


A Single Moment

by Umbreix



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Oriko Redemption, F/F, Found Family, Homura's very bad no good month, Meguca adoption is common in Mitakihara, Never trust Kyubey, Original Character(s), Protective Kirika, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel Fix-It, Trans Akemi Homura, Trans Female Character, Trans Kure Kirika
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:01:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28477305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbreix/pseuds/Umbreix
Summary: “Could it be that this highly irregular dimension… Is the one where I will find the miracle that will allow my journeys to end?”When Oriko Mikuni sets out to kill Madoka, Homura’s world is torn apart once more. But what if things had gone a little differently. Faced with an old foe many years later, history repeats itself. Except this time Homura isn’t the one that gets one more try.
Relationships: Akemi Homura/Kaname Madoka, Kure Kirika/Mikuni Oriko, Miki Sayaka/Sakura Kyouko, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Shizuki Hitomi/Tomoe Mami
Comments: 42
Kudos: 28





	1. Variation (Homura's PoV)

**Author's Note:**

> “All those dark paths you have walked…
> 
> _“I’d rather die than go through any more of this…”  
>  “If I’m going to end up as a witch. Then I would rather simply die right here…”  
> “Am I… Going to lose her again?”_
> 
> “...Did you find anything close to what you were searching for?”

A single moment is all it takes to change history forever. Akemi Homura knows this more than anyone. A single fight turns a nuisance into an ally. A well aimed strike on a witch keeps someone alive. And sometimes, just sometimes, somebody gets through Sayaka’s thick head and talks her down. Yes, Homura knew this. But what she didn’t know is how far those consequences could reach.

“Aren’t you going to shoot?” The words broke Homura out of her momentary reminiscing, now wasn’t the time to think of the past. In front of her, battered, bruised, and thoroughly beaten, was Mikuni Oriko.

“Yes, I am!” But she needed to know, she’d dealt with other irregularities before but none managed to ruin things to quite this level. And yet, she wasn’t alone. The new girl, Chitose Yuma, had managed to bring Kyoko and Mami’s fighting to an end and even brought the pair back from the brink of despair. This timeline may have been a complete disaster, but maybe… just maybe…

“Answer one question. Why are you so hellbent on fighting?” Homura could hear the desperation in her voice as she said it, and she knew Oriko could tell. She saw the way she smiled, grin as smug as ever. But there was sadness in her eyes, and more than that, there was understanding too. She knew Homura wasn’t truly asking why she was doing it, but how she kept doing it.

Oriko’s reply came out ragged, her composure slipping for just a second. “It’s… to save my world.” With a weight far greater than most would understand. But Homura wasn’t most. And perhaps it was this understanding that caused her to hesitate for a single moment. Instead of firing a finishing blast directly through her soul gem. And it was that single moment that saved Madoka Kaname’s life.

Homura stepped forward. And Oriko struck.

-<>=<>-

Pain. Pain coursed through her body. Homura crashed to the floor, clutching at her injured back and… Wait. There wasn’t any injury. She was fine, well, as fine as she was at the beginning of any timeline. In no state to attempt her usual healing just yet, Homura reached up for her glasses, sliding them onto her face as she propped herself up against the hospital bed she had once called a home. 

‘ _Right_ ,’ she thought to herself, ‘ _take in your surroundings, be methodical, what has changed_.’ While the hospital mostly stayed the same, occasional changes had made her remain on her toes even at the very beginning of a loop. Especially after that one time she’d woken to see Kyubey perched on the chair at the foot of her bed. So far everything seemed the same as usual, blue curtains, single chair, nothing new. Homura sagged in relief, reaching up to massage her temples and restore her eyesight with a flash of her soul gem.

After her last loop she needed at least a small bit of stability. She’d been completely blind sided when Kyoko of all people had lost control. The girl was nasty in a fight at any time but as a witch? Homura would rather not face Ophelia again any time soon. But the only major damage she’d taken was a blow to the leg, so why did her back hurt so suddenly? As she seemed fine at the moment she could shrug it off, for now at least. Homura got to her feet. Loosening her hair, she moved towards the window with purpose. She could contemplate this more later, for now she had work to do.

\---

This absolutely wasn’t a normal timeline. Forty six attempts. The incubator had made forty six attempts to contact Madoka over the last few hours. It seems the variation this time was a much more determined Incubator. So far Homura had dispatched the creature without alerting it to her presence, but this time she’d confronted the little rat in an abandoned warehouse. Framed by the moon through a wall of cracked windows, pistol drawn. After giving some of her best and most intimidating speeches, she felt she’d instilled her message to the creature. And yet…

“ _I do not understand this attachment of yours_.” Kyubey deadpanned, looking up at the girl currently pinning it to the wall by the throat.

Homura scoffed, “You needn’t understand, all you must do is obey. You are not to go near her again, have I made myself clear?” The Incubator tilted it’s head in that annoying way it so often favoured, but it didn’t say anything. “I said-”

“ _I heard what you said. I was merely considering the incoming explosion._ ”

“What do you- Explosion?!”

At that very moment the windows shattered in a hail of glass, rubble, and two very angry magical girls. The blast caught Homura off guard, but she recovered quickly, seconds before the two combatants reached her she summoned her shield. With a quick twist the flow of time halted and she surveyed the oncoming brawl. One of the girls appeared to be instigating the latest attack. A snarl revealing several broken teeth, and a yellow eye filled with hatred from beneath shaggy black hair. Sword in one hand and shield in the other, both glowing with a deadly amount of magic. Worse, the magic felt… familiar. She wasn’t simply a new threat, she was a powerful one. Homura finished her inspection as she loaded another clip into her pistol and positioned herself up on the rafters, poised to either escape or intervene should the need arise. Homura flicked her gaze to the second magical girl, and almost lost her footing.

“Madoka?!”

But it couldn’t be, Madoka hadn’t made a contract, she’d made sure of that. So why did the girl before her look so… familiar. She was bruised, beaten, bloodied, but the look in her eyes stopped her in her tracks. She was pleading with the other girl, begging her to stop this. The room was shaking, or maybe that was just Homura. She moved towards the girl. The stranger with long pink hair and an oh so familiar expression in familiar pink eyes looked up at her attacker. On reflex, Homura reached out to her... and brushed her shoulder.

A gasp isn’t the right word to describe the sound this... Not-Madoka made. No, it was more of a strangled and terrified sound as she dived into her saviour's arms, clinging to her with a grip even magic wouldn't be able to force off. Homura froze, she needed to get away as long as she was in contact she didn’t have control of this oh god she- the girl released her vice grip around her as she looked up at Homura, still holding one of her wrists. And sobbed.

The range of emotions Not-Madoka went through was astounding to behold, from joy to confusion to unbridled anger and finally complete neutrality. She broke eye contact momentarily to glance at the still frozen assailant, before she spoke.

“A-Akemi Homura.”

It wasn’t a question, this girl knew who she was. Nevertheless, Homura responded.

“Yes. And you are?”

The other girl paused for a moment, uncertainty crossing her features before settling on grim resolve. “An ally.”

Homura narrowed her eyes, “What need would I have of a stranger on this territory. It seems that you are the one who needs aid here.”

The stranger smiled, and made a show of releasing her grip on Homura’s wrist… And continued to move. Homura’s eyes narrowed further, this girl both knew how her power worked and could produce similar effects. Though she could see the toll it took on her. Against her better judgement, Homura reached out once more, steadying the unfamiliar magical girl as she started to sag.

“Wal… Walpurgis.”

“What of it?”

“I know how to stop it.”

Homura couldn’t help herself, she gasped. She didn’t trust this newcomer but she hadn’t trusted any magical girl in a long time. Besides, she’d had worse introductions herself in certain timelines, the memory of racing to Madoka on her second timeline still burned into her mind. But this situation was rapidly spiralling further out of control and she couldn’t have that. Squaring her shoulders, Homura looked the newcomer in the eyes once more, their familiar pink meeting hers.

“Very well. But I will need more information than just an empty promise-”

“I know,” the girl cut her off, “But I’m not the only one who you’ll need.”

Homura scoffed, “There isn’t a single capable girl in the city.”

The newcomer couldn’t have been older than her, but she carried a weight on her that seemed so much older. Not as much as Homura felt, but enough to let her hear out her next words.

“I think you’ll find them quite capable indeed, why not recruit Tomoe Mami?”

Something in the girl’s eyes told Homura she knew exactly why, but then why would she ask? “Unreliable. She may act contrary to it but she is. Easy to bend, easier to break. An alliance would never work.”

“You really are like this…” The look she gave her bordered on pity and it made Homura’s blood boil.

“Like what exactly?”

“Unwilling to compromise even for the good of us all. Mami-senpai is better than you could ever know, then you could EVER give her credit for!” Before she could respond however, the girl gave a weak smile. 

“I’m so not sorry about this.” Gritting her teeth the girl shoved her backwards, hard, directly into the path of the other magical girl. In a flash, the world returned to motion, with the raven haired girl’s sword arcing directly at her. Quick to react, Homura brought up her own shield to catch the blade before using her momentum to dive out of the way of any follow up attacks. When she looked up the pink haired girl was gone, leaving only the raven haired thug.

“YOU. I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!” She bellowed, single minded fury clouding her as she charged. But Homura didn’t bother to move to counter her. The tell-tale glint off the newcomer’s shield letting her know that this battle was won before it could even begin.

“TIRO FINALE!”

A bombardment smashed directly into the would-be-assailant from behind as Mami Tomoe landed on the remains of a nearby table, teacup in hand and smile on her face. A smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Well, well, this is quite the mess you have found yourself in. I hope it’s not too much of a bother for me to… drop in? Is that a friend of yours?”

Homura stepped past the crumpled heap of ruffles and leather, making her way over to Mami’s side. It wasn’t that she trusted the girl, but with things already off schedule Homura could reasonably place her trust in Mami’s focus on any situation where she could act like a wise senpai.

“No. We just met.”

Mami’s smile spread a little, “Quite the coincidence, for two new girls to enter Mitakihara at the same time.”

Homura scowled, she didn’t like the implications of this. “Three. There was another girl she was attacking, but she got away.”

Mami frowned just slightly, “Got away? How could…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes widened.

Homura spun around, the other magical girl was gone too. Both had managed to give her the slip. Cursing softly, she turned back to Mami. “Like that,” she deadpanned.

Mami straightened a little, dusting herself off. “I see. Well that can be handled later, for now... Would you like some tea?”

Homura was fully prepared to brush her off as always, but something from that Not-Madoka stuck out in her mind. “ _Better than I could ever know_ …” She whispered to herself.

Mami tilted her head, “Pardon? I didn’t quite catch that.”

Homura was going to regret this. Oh she knew she would. But regardless she stepped forward, accepting both the proffered teacup and pulling a pair of grief seeds from her shield. This was not going to be a fun conversation.

\---

“Now that that’s out of the way, let’s welcome our new transfer student!” Homura was glad to hear Saotome-sensei’s voice, at least this was going as it should be. The encounter with the other two girls still nagged at her. She’d been reluctantly collaborating with Mami, but only as much as she needed to in order to keep up appearances. Somehow this timeline’s Mami was a lot calmer than the previous few she’d encountered. Though after what she had almost done to Madoka, Homura was sure she could never let her guard down fully with the blonde again.

Stepping into class with the usual practiced grace, running through her self introduction and finishing her name in hiragana. At least this she knew how to do, as tedious as the whole exercise was. She just wanted to get this over with so she could finally talk to Madoka again face to face. Even from here she could notice the way her eyes shined so wonderfully in the-

Saotome glanced at a stack of papers on her desk again before raising her voice once more. “Oh! My apologies class, it appears we have not one but two transfer students. And one some of you should know.”

Homura froze where she stood, this… This never happened. Not once had a new student joined alongside her. Sure there had been a few oddities in the members of the class but never any other transfers.

“Would you please write your name on the board?” Holding out the pen apologetically, Saotome gestured to the doorway. Homura spun on her heel just in time to see a girl writing kanji onto the board.

With a final flourish the now familiar figure met her gaze. Her hair was shorter now, cut into a rough bob, but still the same undeniably familiar pink. And with a smirk she introduced herself to the class, staring Homura dead in the eyes.

“My name is Kaname Haruka. Pleased to meet you.”

A trio of gasps came from behind her, but they were lost to Homura as the ground rushed up to meet her, and all went black.


	2. Medication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Madoka cares for an unconscious Homura, meanwhile a enemy gains a new asset

Madoka wasn’t sure who moved first. One second Homura was moving towards a girl she’d never met before, and the next she was hitting the floor with a sickening crunch. Faintly she could hear Sayaka calling out to her, could feel her grab her by the shoulder, but Madoka shrugged her off. She had to reach Homura, she had to know she was alright.

She charged past the group of magical girls, still trying to reach the girl who’d hurt Homura, ignoring their cries for her to stay back. Collapsing onto her knees she slid a hand under Homura’s head, cradling her as she coughed up blood.

“I-it’ll be okay Homura-chan. Hold on, you can hold on!” Tears filled her eyes as she held onto the battered girl laying before her.

“Ma...dok...a?”

“Yes! Yes it’s me! Don’t worry Homura-chan, you’ll be safe I promise.”

“St-st...ay?”

“Always Homura-chan. I-I’ll be right here”

Suddenly the others were surrounding them, Sayaka attempting to pull her away again. But Madoka had promised, and she wasn’t going to let go of Homura. A green haired girl, the name Yuma faintly echoing in Madoka's head, knelt down on Homura's other side, waving her cat shaped hammer over the blood- Oh there was so much blood.

“You’re gonna be alright, Homura-chan. You’re going to be okay!” She needed her to be okay, she’d only known the other girl for a short time and yet she knew she needed her.

A smile flashed across her face, as if she'd heard Madoka’s thoughts. And as the labyrinth around them faded back into reality, Homura Akemi closed her eyes.

-<>=<>-

Madoka moved first. Once the transfer student, Akemi, had hit the ground she was already on her feet.

“Sayaka-chan! Help me move her”

“Eh?!” The blue hair girl gaped at the chaos unfolding in front of her before standing up quickly and moving to scoop the now unconscious transfer student up in a bridal carry.

The other transfer student moved towards the pair, bending down to ask, “do you need any more help?”

“Oh, no it's quite alright. Sayaka-chan is pretty strong and I'm the nurse’s aid! So we can help…” Looking at the new girl, Madoka was struck with a sense of familiarity. The pink hair and eyes, she could be Madoka’s sister if she didn’t know any better. But then again, she had introduced herself as _Kaname_ Haruka, so maybe they were related after all. She opened her mouth to ask before Sayaka elbowed her in the side.

Oh! Right, Akemi. Madoka quickly told Saotome-sensei that she was going to take her to the nurse’s office. 

The teacher smiled, “Ah, of course. It says on her papers that Akemi-san has a heart condition, good job taking the initiative Madoka-san. In fact, you should all take note of Madoka’s initiative, especially you boys-”

Tuning out another of her teacher’s usual rants, Madoka left the classroom. Sayaka took a moment to quickly give Hitomi one of her Looks. Hitomi nodded in return and turned her gaze towards the remaining Kaname, before Sayaka stepped out into the hallway.

“You know, she’s surprisingly light.” Sayaka remarked, breaking the silence as the pair crossed the hallway connecting the classrooms to the nurse’s office. “I could probably carry her with one arm.”

“P-please don't!” Madoka cried

“Eh, don’t worry I’ve got her. You’re taking your role as nurses aide a lot more seriously than usual you know. Rushing to save a girl in distress is supposed to be my job.”

Madoka blushed, “W-well. I just wanted her to be okay. She uh… You’ll think I’m crazy.”

Sayaka raised an eyebrow, “more than the time you thought the turnstiles were attacking you?”

Madoka blushed even further, going even pinker than her hair. “I-I never said they were attacking me! I just got stuck twice.”

Sayaka grinned, raising the pitch of her voice. “Sayaka-chan! The automatic turnstiles are being mean!”

Madoka squeaked in protest, stumbling backwards and falling into someone’s arms.

“My, my, you ought to look where you’re going.” The girl who’d caught her laughed, setting Madoka back on her feet and giving her a warm smile.

Sayaka paled, “O-oh senpai we’re sorry we were just-”

“Taking Akemi-san to the nurse’s office? Would you mind if I accompanied you?”

Madoka perked up at hearing the upperclassman say Akemi's name, “Do you know her, senpai?”

Mami smiled, “We’ve recently become... friends, I’m Tomoe Mami, nice to meet you. Please, call me Mami”

Sayaka gave her a wave, almost dropping Akemi in the process and causing Madoka to let out another squeak before Sayaka steadied herself again. “I got her, I got her, it’s fine Madoka. Nice to meet you Mami-san, I'm Miki Sayaka and this is Kaname Madoka!”

“Would the two of you mind me accompanying you to the nurses office? I’d like to talk to Akemi-san when she wakes up.”

“I’m sure Akemi-san would be happy to have a friend waiting for her.” Madoka beamed at her.

The trio continued in comfortable silence until Sayaka suddenly spoke up again.

“Oi Madoka, you never told me why you were so determined to help her.”

Madoka blinked, she’d completely forgotten she’d mentioned that. “Oh just a dream I had... SAYAKA DON'T DROP HER!”

Raucous laughter echoed down the hallways of Mitakihara Middle School.

\---

She’d lost. And she wasn’t just beaten, she’d been completely humiliated. She could hear mother’s voice now, how upset she was going to be with her. How upset she was already. She had to know right? Mother always knew everything, no matter how hard she tried to lie. There was only one thing she could do, one thing she had to do.

She’d used up the stored charge in her shield already, and her sword wouldn’t be useful here, so she’d just have to make it on her own. But that was okay, she was used to doing tasks by herself. Mother told her how good she was at dealing with individual targets, so maybe she’d be okay since she was outmatched. But maybe she’d be even madder.

Either way, she’d made it. Summoning her sword in one hand, the magical girl effortlessly slashed through the doors lock, almost collapsing against it as she made her way into the familiar home. But she only a few steps past the doorway before something sharp pressed against her back.

“Well well well, what’s a girl like you doin’ here?” The voice behind her was unfamiliar and it sent shivers down her spine. Nevertheless she continued forward, dragging herself against the wall, not heeding the increasing pressure.

 _Thud_. The unfamiliar girl shoved her forward, planting a knee into her back and holding her working arm behind her. “I said. Why. Are. You. Here.”

“I… I have a m-message…” She wheezed out.

“Oh really?” Mother’s golden voice rang out as she stepped into her view, looking down with smug curiosity. “And who would you be?”

Everything was starting to fade, but she still managed to stammer out the words she’d come all this way to say. “Mother I… I a-am, urgh, your humble servant. My name… K-Kure Kiori.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both newcomers have made contact, how long until they clash?  
> So that’s Chapter 2 done! I decided to put this one out early to give a bit more setup to the story. From here on updates will most likely come weekly. 
> 
> Things may seem bleak right now but next time, Homura wakes up... twice.


	3. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some conversations go better than others. One Homura's world falls apart while another's changes drastically. Regardless, Sayaka is Sayaka in both.

_“...Did you find anything close to what you were searching for?”_

Homura shot up in bed with a gasp. By now she was used to sudden startled awakenings. Last timeline had been one of the worst loops so far and she’d practically dived out of bed afterwards, needing something to keep herself occupied. But when she noticed the surrounding décor was decidedly less clinical then she was used to and included one, slightly snoring, Sakura Kyoko sprawled on a chair, Homura knew something was wrong.

She tried to slip out from the bed that she now recognized as the one in Mami’s spare room from the times she’d spent over at her place so very many timelines ago. But something was keeping her stuck in place. She reached under the covers with one arm, fumbling for… IV tubes? And yanking them out. Homura was going to regret that later but right now she just needed to get OUT of here. Planting both feet on the floor she reached out, preparing to transform. She’d freeze time, grab some spare clothes from her shield, and escape out the window. Then figure out why she was here, where Madoka was, and what had happened in-

It felt like a physical blow when the memories hit her, an overwhelming wave of pain and anger. Mikuni Oriko. Mikuni Oriko had threatened Madoka. HER Madoka. A low growl came out of her as she staggered, managing only three steps forward before the fact she couldn’t feel her legs caught up to her and she was falling yet again.

With an, “Oi, watch it!” Kyoko awoke suddenly as Homura crashed against the chair, sending both it and its occupant to the floor.

A few minutes later Homura was propped back up on the bed with Kyoko’s hoodie on top of her and the others all crammed into the small room. With looks of embarrassment (Kyoko), confusion (Sayaka), concern (Mami), and… genuine worry from the room’s smallest inhabitant as she fussed over the time traveler.

“You were hurt very very badly! You have to stay in bed.” Yuma grumbled, pouting up at her. Homura wanted to argue with the child about this but the look that all three of the other magical girls leveled at her made her reconsider. Wait. Three?

“You made a contract.” Not a question, though it should have been.

Sayaka huffed and, to Homura’s confusion, pulled her into a hug. “Yeah I did. Glad you’re okay by the way, idiot. You took a big hit back there. Worried Mami-san half to death.”

Mami placed a tray with a bowl of soup on Homura’s lap, huffing good naturedly. “Well of course, it's not every day that one of my friends gets maimed by a crazy magical girl you know.”

Sayaka and Kyoko responded in unison, “It kinda is.” Before looking at each other and laughing.

Homura, at Mami and Yuma’s combined prompting, took a single spoonful of the soup. It was actually quite nice, not a specific flavor just, warm and comforting. Much better than anything the hospitals had ever provided as she recovered from procedures. As the group stepped back, Homura put the tray to the side (to Mami’s protest) and leveled a glare at the group.

“Where is Kaname Madoka?” This was less a question then a demand, she was going to be told whether they wanted to or not.

Kyoko grinned toothily, “Calm down Hom, your little girlfriend’s on her way over now.”

Homura visibly sagged into the pillows in relief. Madoka was safe. “Good. Don’t call me ‘Hom’.”

“Got it Hom.”

Now feeling her appetite in full force, Homura picked back up the soup and started digging in. Mami, looking happy, turned and headed out of the room followed by Yuma and a drawl from Kyoko for “any spare soup layin’ round Mami-san?”

"For you? I've always got spares prepared."

A loud crash followed as Kyoko hit the ground for the second time that day, attempting to do a victory dance.

Finishing the bowl, Homura sat herself up. It hurt, but a lot less than before. The looks on both remaining girls got a lot more serious and they moved the chairs in the room towards the end of the bed before sitting down across from her.

“What happened?”

Sayaka grimaced, “You’ll need to be a lot more specific than that.”

“Fine. What did Mikuni Oriko do to me?”

Kyoko brushed her hair back with one hand, leaning back, before replying. “Well, in a word? Stabbing.”

Homura raised an eyebrow. “And in more words?”

“Something was off about that witch she had with her, it was way too resistant for starters-”

“Yea, took more of Mami-san’s bullets then the rest of the labyrinth combined.”

“And even when we did get the thing down, it took a bit to actually die. It started kinda crumbling.”

Homura’s eyes widened, “Ah. So she attacked me with one of the fragments.”

“Yeah ‘xactly. Got you somethin’ good too. Through the arm and out through your spine.”

Grimacing at the mental image, Homura looked down at her hand. There was a mark just above where her soul gem usually manifested when she transformed. “And was there a reason I had to be dragged here? Despite there being at least one healer among you.”

Kyoko looked at her with a lot more severity then Homura was comfortable seeing on her face. “That’s the thing, you _weren’t_ healin’. We had to dig the fragment out and it was in splinters.”

Sayaka grinned reassuringly, reaching out to pat the arm in question. “Luckily for us you started healing when we pulled the first bit out, just had to make sure to get them all and give you some time to get better.”

Kyoko chuckled, “Glad she missed the gem.”

Homura frowned. She’d been looking Oriko in the eyes but even so she’d seen how she moved out of her peripheral vision. She’d moved at a speed Homura hadn’t thought possible by anyone. Not even a magical girl. And the look in her eyes showed clearly that she knew precisely what she was about to do. “She didn’t miss.”

Kyoko bolted upright, moving to check her arm again.

“Not like that. I meant she clearly knew what she was doing. She aimed in a way to…”

In a flash Homura was forcing back the covers and transforming. She had to check. The aim had been TOO precise. She-

\---

“She’s awake?”

“Last I checked she was fully lucid and irritating Miki-san.”

Madoka chuckled, that sure sounded like the Homura she knew. “Thank you very much. Both of you. You’ve both been so kind to take her in while she was unwell.” Madoka didn’t like to think about that day, how small Homura had looked collapsed in a heap and bleeding all over. But things were okay now! She pulled the pair into a big hug before following them up to the guest bedroom.

Things were going good so far, they all just needed to be careful of how they told her what happened. It was Mami’s idea to break the news to her in stages rather than all at once, and Sayaka’s to have her and Kyoko do most of it before she told the rest. But- 

A horrified, agonizing scream tore through the house. And the trio broke out into a sprint.

Mami burst through the door, Yuma and Madoka hot on her heels as Kyoko and Sayaka restrained a flailing Homura very unsuccessfully.

“THE RIBBON THING. DO THE RIBBON THING!” Kyoko screeched as Homura drove a right hook directly to her jaw, sending her sprawling into one of the chairs. With a flash Homura was completely bound by Mami’s magic and Yuma was helping Sayaka off the floor to apply magic to her rapidly darkening eye while Kyoko lay groaning.

“WHY. WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME!” Homura bellowed, a horrified look in her eyes as she struggled with all her might against the binding.

Madoka was the one to step forward first, “Because Mami-san and the others were worried that you might get hurt. We wanted to tell you slowly.”

"I can't do this. I can't be stuck here. I can't-" Homura stopped her struggling, still shaking, and started gasping for air. Madoka rushed forwards and in an instant the ribbons were gone and soft kind arms were hugging her.

\---

It took several minutes for her to calm down enough to tell exactly who she was being hugged by, and that helped Homura come back to her surroundings more than anything. Well, maybe except for the soothing circles Madoka was rubbing into her back and the soothing assurances she was giving her. Pushing herself back slightly, Homura looked Madoka in the eyes.

“You’re safe. Oh thank god, you’re safe.”

With her absolutely beautiful smile, Madoka blushed, moving back slightly more to hold Homura’s hands in hers. “We’re safe Homura-chan, everyone here is safe. We’re all so very glad you are safe too.” Her gaze flickering from her wonderfully pretty eyes, Homura looked at their entwined hands, with two rings and two very familiar marks on matching fingernails.

This time there was no fight, the willingness drained out of her as Homura collapsed sobbing. “W-Why. I told you. You can’t. You c-can’t.” Madoka moved to wrap her arms around her once more but Homura was pushing her back and getting to her feet, the tears continuing to flow. “I told you Madoka. Never contract. You CAN’T. Why would you?!”

The pink haired girl looked up at her pleadingly. “I-I had to keep everyone safe. And you were so hurt, Homura-chan. I had to make sure-”

“I'M NOT WORTH IT.”

The words burst from her before she could stop them, before she could claw the admission of loathing back inside. “I’m not worth it Madoka. And none of them are.”

Kyoko started to get to her feet, tone dipping low. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Homura glared back, defiant. “Kaname Madoka is worth so much more than any of us could ever be. Beyond wasting her life on a wish. She deserves better. But she didn’t get better, she got a group of idiots who would sacrifice her for their own safety.”

Mami looked as if she had been punched, and even Kyoko reared back slightly at the claim.

Sayaka reached forward, grabbing her by her collar. “You listen here. You couldn’t possibly have known what we’ve gone through. What I have gone through-”

“Oh I know ENOUGH about you. How you throw away your life for some miserable boy who will never return your deluded affection. Just because you are a moron with a hero complex doesn’t mean you have to make Madoka-”

She barely felt the blow when it landed, and as the blood flowed out of her now split lip she watched through narrowed eyes as Sayaka pushed the others out of her way and slammed the door behind her. It felt good to show the fool just how foolish she had been. Kyoko started to move after her but Mami put a hand up to stop her. And eventually Yuma led the trio out. Soon, there was only her and Madoka again. The girl had changed into her magical outfit and was holding a hand up to cup her cheek as she sent traces of healing magic through her. But it didn’t matter now. They were all doomed-

She was snapped out of her spiraling thoughts as Madoka brought her lips to her forehead in a brief kiss. Homura was stunned, sitting there gaping. “M-Madoka?”

“It’s okay Homura-chan, it’s all going to be okay. I promise.”

“How can you say that? It’s almost time.”

“Time? Time for what?”

“For us to say goodbye. For…”

“Walpurgisnacht?”

Homura looked up at her, “You… You know?”

Madoka smiled sadly at the shocked girl, before handing her something from the nightstand beside her. The thing in question being a Calendar… Marked with today's date. May 22nd.

“We beat it Homura-chan. We beat the witch. It’s all going to be okay.” Madoka whispered, voice pleading. But Homura simply stared, calendar in hand, as the remains of her fractured shield fell to the floor.

-<>=<>-

The first thing that Homura felt was a hand on her forehead and the first thing she heard was a comforting, familiar voice. For a moment she was in a state of absolute and complete peace, until she realized the voice was coming from the other side of the room. Eyes snapping open, Homura looked up into the face of the girl caring for her. Wet cloth in one hand and goofy smile on her face, Sayaka waved at her, spraying her with droplets of water.

“Ugh.”

With a groan, she sat up in bed pushing Sayaka away with a begrudging nod as the other occupants of the… Nurse’s room. She was in the nurse's room… Why exactly was she in the nurse’s room? She turned to Sayaka and asked her as much.

“Oh, you fainted.”

“...Fainted?”

“Yup,” Sayaka’s grin spread even further, “Got a bit excited seeing the new girl eh? I can relate, Madoka over here is my wife after all.”

To Homura’s displeasure, Sayaka reached out and wrapped an arm around Madoka, who was hovering anxiously around the pair.

“S-Sayaka-chan!” The girl blushed, slipping out from her friend’s arm and moving over to Homura. “Are you okay? You, uh, had a big fall.”

It must have been a big fall indeed, because she was unable to stop the slight smile at Madoka’s concern for her. Disguising the expression by reaching up to fake a cough, Homura turned to the final person in the room.

Mami smiled kindly from one of the plastic seats lining the wall, in the midst of pouring out tea for the group. “I fear you’ve been overworking yourself Akemi-san. I appreciate the help on our shared project but I’d rather you take some more time to rest.”

Sayaka perked up at that, “Oh? What are you doing that’d get the transfer student involved?”

“None of your business,” Homura deadpanned. “Your concern is appreciated, Tomoe Mami, but it is misplaced. I have been pacing myself adequately and I am more than up to the task.”

“Eh? Then why did you faint?” Homura loved the girl but Madoka had a habit of asking rather blunt questions without realizing. She’d just have to explain her condition, that usually did the trick for getting the pair off her back. Though she’d have to reign in the usual show of prowess at class. Not that it mattered any more, she’d most likely missed some of the best chances to impress Madoka this timeline. But before she could talk about her heart condition, a new voice interjected.

“Oh that? She just forgot her glasses. Poor girl suffers from chronic headaches but she was in such a rush she left them behind.”

Homura glared at the newcomer. This new girl was turning out to be even more of a nuisance then Sayaka. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of gold colored glasses, strolling over to hand them to her. Homura was about to protest this when a voice rang out in her head. It was a sensation she’d felt multiple times but something felt… different this time. It was like the difference in seeing your reflection in a muddy puddle and seeing it on the surface of a still lake.

‘ _Sorry about that, some people aren't prepared for my kind of Connection. Now, j_ _ust go along with this. They’re your prescription._ ’

Homura forced the scowl down and reached out, plastering a neutral smile on her features instead. ‘ _Fine._ ’ she projected to the girl before saying out loud, “Thank you Kaname-san.”

Kaname Haruka grinned. ‘ _What. No first name? Thought you already had a Kaname in your heart?_ ’

' _I_ _do not believe that is your real name._ ’

‘ _Fair. It is though. But you don’t have to believe that, you just need to listen to my proposition._ ’

“Tomoe-san? Would you happen to have space on your project for another transfer student? People like us can give a very unique _perspective_ I've been told.”

Mami blinked, looking the girl up and down. Her gaze flicked to her hands quickly and her expression became even more confused.

“Oh? Yeah I don’t really like painting my nails, it makes things easier.” ‘Haruka’ held her hands out, showing the lack of both ring and any soul mark. This… This girl had some tricks up her sleeve that even Homura didn’t know.

“I’ll toast to that!” Sayaka cheered, snatching up a cup of tea and holding it out to the transfer student. After taking the cup and miming a toast back at her, she took a sip and broadcast a single sentence.

‘ _If you keep them all alive, I’ll keep Madoka from making a contract._ ’

Homura, who had started to sip from a cup Madoka gave her, choked. ‘ _Y-You what?!_ ’

‘ _I said what I said. I’m aware of you Akemi Homura, and our goals just so happen to line up._ ’

‘ _...You do not like me._ ’

‘ _No._ ’

‘ _And yet you offer your help. Why?_ ’

‘ _I owe you. That is all I will say._ ’

Still utterly confused by this change of events, it took Homura a few seconds to realize she hadn’t drank any more of her tea and had just been staring at the other girl. Haruka seemed to have realized too, and reached into her pocket once more, a sheepish grin on her face.

“Whoops! I gave you my glasses by mistake. My prescription is a little too weak for you, here you are.” And then she produced a _very_ familiar pair of red spectacles. The girl was making a show out of this. She knew about Homura, how much she wasn’t sure, but a great deal more than she wanted her to. Reluctantly she swapped her glasses for her own pair, the girls simultaneously slipping them onto their faces.

Madoka’s voice piped up once more. “Oh! They look nice on you Homura-chan!” Realizing the name she’d called her, the pink haired girl turned as bright as her hair and stepped behind Sayaka, as if she’d block her from sight. Which the girl promptly did not do, stepping also and reaching to ruffle her hair saying some inane nonsense about “her wife”. As the two ran through their typical comedy routine, Haruka spoke up.

“I appreciate the help you’ve both given my friend, but maybe you should let her rest a bit more? I can stay behind with Tomoe-san and discuss her project a little more before returning to class.”

Sayaka perked up again at the mention of the mysterious project. “Oh? And what would that be- What’s with the stuffed toy?”

Homura was intensely grateful for this new form of connection because the words she thought next would have scandalized poor Madoka for the rest of her life. She was unsure if it was what she said or the sudden mention of the incubator but Haruka had managed to spill the latest cup of tea she was pouring herself and was frantically dabbing at her uniform. The menace of an incubator was perched on the windowsill and slowly, very slowly, tilted it’s head.

‘ _Hello Miki Sayaka, Kaname Madoka, my name is Kyubey. Would you like to become-_ ’

The speed at which the two of them moved was incredible even for magical girls. Homura slid a pistol under the covers and prepared to shoot the creature. But faster still was Haruka, who in a mighty display of clumsiness, threw the still half full teapot directly at the incubator.

As it fell, the silence was broken.

“What the fuck just happened.”

“Sayakaaaa! Language!”

\---

After a frantic psychic conversation with Mami in order to convince her Kyubey was still in fact alive and she should not unleash a particularly musket filled attack on the other magical girls, they had returned to class. Though the upperclassman was still upset at the waste of a good pot of tea. Haruka made the promise to the two civilians to explain exactly what kind of mess they had stumbled into on the roof after school. And now the group were sitting in their English class.

From her observations so far, Homura was of the opinion that Kaname Haruka- she’d decided to accept that as her name for now- was charismatic, a bit on the clumsy side, good at improvisation, and most recently revealed to be an eager student. The girl was languishing in praise as she answered any of the questions directed at her like a particularly smug cat. Or Kyubey. Saotome finished writing another English phrase on the board and turned to the class. “How would you ask this question in English? Let’s see.. Nakazawa-kun!”

The poor boy bolted up in his seat. Homura didn’t make a habit of learning her classmates names but it was rather hard not to know Nakazawa. It seemed every single teacher would pick him the exact instant he stopped paying attention, especially Saotome. Granted, she had referred to him as “egg boy” once, but she would never say that out loud… in this timeline. Nakazawa was predictably unable to answer and the teacher started a long rant about “the state of students these days.” Poor Nakazawa did get monologued at a ridiculous amount.

_‘Are all the teachers like this here?’_ Came from the girl sitting next to her.

‘ _Not all of them. But most._ ’ Came a reply from a classroom a floor above them. The fact that Mami could figure out the context said a lot about the state of Mitakihara Middle School’s teaching standards.

‘ _Well, it gives us a chance to chat at least. So, wanna hear out my plan?_ ’

Homura flicked her gaze towards Haruka who was still appearing to copy down everything coming from the teacher’s mouth. ‘ _Very well._ ’

‘ _First I want to know something. How are you doing this?_ ’

‘ _What kind of magical girl doesn't know how to communicate via Kyubey, Tomoe-san?_ ’

‘ _And yet, you aren’t._ ’

‘ _Welll… Kyumunication isn’t my kinda deal personally. It's a bit too messy. Gets all jumbled sometimes. You all really should put a complaint in-_ ’

‘ _And you are deflecting._ ’ There was clear amusement in Mami’s voice.

‘ _Perhaps. It’s... It’s my power._ ’

‘ _Power? From your wish?_ ’

‘ _In a manner of speaking, yes. It’s Communication, I can link people together directly and let them maintain the conversations. It extends beyond just chatting actually, just gives you a small headache at first but that'll go away in no time. But enough tangents. After our chat on the roof there’s something I have to ask._ ’

' _And what would that be?_ '

Haruka got to her feet, moving to the board to answer the question for Nakazawa. As she finished she turned to face the class, repeating her answer on the board over her Connection.

‘ _Have you visited Kazamino lately?_ ’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A much longer chapter again! Chapter 2 was a nice small connecting chapter but I plan for the general chapter length to be around this much. I’ve also officially planned out the majority of the fic now so it should be smooth sailing from here, lots of interesting things to come as the story starts to diverge. 
> 
> Next time: MadoSaya learn about magical girls and we check in with the Mikunis.


	4. “I am the Queen of Calm and Collected”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka and Homura scheme and, with Mami's help, introduce Madoka and Sayaka to the world of Magical Girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve moved the Oriko section to a chapter of its own as it felt better that way. So in absence of our upcoming antagonists, let’s learn about magical girls!

_“ Wait. ”_

The voice ringing through her Connection, Haruka paused. Pulling her hand back from the handle she turned and leant against the door up to the school’s roof. Homura leveled her serious look at her, the _serious_ serious one, as she stopped on the top step a small distance away from her. Haruka grimaced, this outta be good.

_“ What? ”_

_“ What do you plan on telling them? ”_

Haruka blinked. Oh, she hadn’t actually mentioned that part yet. Whoops. _“_ _Explain why our friends met a talking rat, why? ”_

_“ I’d gathered as much. But what exactly are you going to tell them? You say you wish to keep Kaname Madoka from contracting. For the moment I have chosen to believe you, but any mention of Walpurgisnacht will only exacerbate the issue. Not to mention Miki Sayaka’s hero complex. ”_

Well then, there went that plan. Okay what else did she have that could help the girls band together… Aha! 

_“ And the assassin in black? ”_

Homura’s eyes narrowed dangerously and she moved forward onto the stairs landing. _“_ _Who? ”_

Well, she had mentioned Kirika’s presence being unexpected. So maybe the rumors hadn’t reached her yet. She’d learnt them from Mami before if she was remembering correctly. Or maybe she wasn’t even active in this timeline at all. Haruka absolutely hoped so, but if Kiori had followed her then she was going to contact her sooner rather than later anyway. _“_ _Kure Kirika. She’s been going around killing other magical girls. You really haven’t heard of her? And yet you act like such a know it all. ”_

Ok maybe she was being petty with that last comment but in her defence Homura really was acting like she was infallible. And Haruka knew more than anyone just how far she could fall. 

_“ The girl you were fighting the day we met? ”_

Breathing out, she fixed her gaze on the wall instead of Homura. _“_ _No. Her name is Kiori. She’s…. She’s not the assassin, but she’s still dangerous. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve teamed up by now. ”_

Homura looked unimpressed. _“_ _Any other information I should know? ”_

Haruka straightened at that. She should tell her now. Every moment she delayed it would make things worse but. She couldn’t look the other girl in the eyes. And if she couldn’t do that how could she tell her. She’d do it when she got back from Kazamino, that’d be enough time. 

_“ No.”_

Homura stepped forward, closing the distance between them and looking Haruka directly in the eyes. _“_ _Who are you really? ”_

Haruka was sweating now, _“I told you. I’m an ally. I promised to keep Madoka safe, and I will. If they know about Kure that should be enough to keep Miki-san from rushing into her contract. It won’t stop her but it will at least buy us time to bring in the person who can. ”_

_“ You know a surprising amount about the situation you’ve found yourself in. And that can only mean one of two possibilities. Firstly, you possess a similar ability to myself. While it is the more likely option it doesn’t explain how you... ”_

She trailed off before quickly sending another message. _“_ _Tomoe Mami is approaching. ”_

Moments later the girl in question came around the corner, ascending the steps up to meet them. “My apologies for the delay, I had to assist one of my underclassmen. Some nuisance stole one of his books and hid them up on the fence.”

Haruka flicked an emotion of bemused curiosity to Homura, before realizing she hadn’t explained that little trick yet. Oops. Hurriedly she stepped over to steady her as she stumbled. Quick to cover the silence she laughed. “Told you, you should keep those glasses of yours on. I don’t trust that magical cure of yours.”

“What-”

_“ I’ll explain later. Just wear the damned glasses. ”_

Homura grimaced as Haruka sent a quick flash of magic through the contact. Hopefully that’d counteract any negative side effects. She’d never been all that good at healing, even with multiple other girls trying to explain the process to her it had never really clicked. Still, she could at least muster up the basics. Haruka wasn’t sure why her powers were affecting Homura this way.... Well. No. She knew exactly why. But she sure as hell wasn’t going to confront THAT yet. 

In a flash Homura had summoned her shield and began to reach in before pausing. Instead pulling the glasses Haruka had given her earlier out of a pocket and giving them a quizzical look. Not good, not good. She frantically attempted to change the topic before Homura could ask her why exactly she had a spare pair of her glasses.

_“You dealt with the nearby Kyubeys, right? They won’t realize what we’re about to do?”_

Homura scowled at the thought of the little alien. She thankfully slid the glasses onto her face before responding verbally to the psychic question, “Do you think I wouldn’t think of that? I know what I’m doing.” And mentally finishing with, _“_ _Yes. All Incubators in the area were taken out without notifying them. ”_

Mami seemed to take that as an answer to the previous topic and quickly started fussing over Homura, offering her a brownie or a cup of tea. The girl, as expected, shrugged off the attention. 

_“ Perfect. As long as nobody tips him off, Kyubey won't be able to find us. Connection will mess with his little head."_

Haruka quickly snatched the proffered brownie before Mami could put it away again. Taking a bite, she moved over to the door leading out to the roof. This was either going to be a complete disaster or… Who was she kidding, disasters were the only option. It ran in the family.

“Let us do our best to not upset them. Learning about magical girls can be quite a shock, so staying calm and collected should be our goal.”

“Tomoe-Senpai-”

“Please, call me Mami.”

“Mami-Senpai, I am the Queen of Calm and Collected. Both of you just follow my lead”

Haruka smirked. Showtime.

\---

There had been far too many twists today for Sayaka’s liking. A mysterious new student by itself was exciting. Learning that Madoka’s cousin was joining them too, even more so. But mysterious dreams, fainting transfers, and a talking cat...rabbit...thing? Yeah that was a little too much for one day in Sayaka’s view. And yet she’d been the one to insist on learning more. The instant they’d heard the name Kaname Sayaka had known they’d been involved in whatever crazy anime plotline was unfolding. There was no way she’d let Madoka deal with this by herself, they were a package deal! Well, so was Hitomi technically. But…

“So… Did you ask her?”

Hitomi paused from packing away her stationary and smiled up at her. “Of course I did Sayaka-san. Saotome-sensei was distracted by arguing with Nakazawa-kun about him losing one of his books. So I had the time to ask her.”

“What did she say, Hitomi-chan?”

She turned in her seat to face Madoka. “Apparently she’s a cousin of yours, on your mother’s side. She wanted to make a dramatic entrance apparently but it must have startled poor Akemi-san.”

Madoka fidgeted, obviously thinking about this Haruka girl. So Sayaka put an arm over both her and Hitomi, dragging them all into a huddle. Ignoring their protests, she grinned.

“Well then, it looks like something exciting is going on. Hitomi, are you free after school?”

...She’d had dance practice and she hadn’t actually seen any of the madness in the nurse’s office so the pair had decided to leave Hitomi out. They’d tell her anything interesting about this new cousin of Madoka’s though. Hitomi didn’t get involved with much gossip, and she could leap to conclusions often. This morning she’d had to insist again that she hadn’t secretly charmed Madoka behind her back. Sayaka wasn’t sure what her deal was, probably just worried about losing her friends. But she was still one of her best friends no matter what, Sayaka was going to make sure the three of them remained close.

She leaned over to Madoka, the pair were up on the school roof waiting for the others to arrive. “What kind of animal was that anyway?”

Madoka paused, pulling out a notebook with a bunch of doodles of the creature. “I drew them as best as I could! Uh, maybe a fox?”

Sayaka pondered that, it could very well have been a fox of some kind. Would make sense with the talking. Maybe it’d just taken another shape to appear to them. She was about to say as much when the door slammed open; Kaname Haruka stumbled out with a concerned Mami and nonplussed Akemi on her heels.

“So turns out the door opens outwards and not inwards. Who would have guessed!” The other Kaname grinned widely as she made her way across the empty rooftop towards the pair. “So! We never got the chance to be properly introduced! I was gonna take the time during homeroom and tell you about my trip but…” She cupped a hand around her mouth, leaning in and whispering loudly. “Akemi-san had a little trip of her own.” 

The girl in question scowled at her as she moved to stand against the lattice fence surrounding the roof. And wait, was she leaning backwards so her hair caught in the wind? Did she have to act so… so moe! Sayaka would have teased her about it but she’d probably better avoid annoying one of the girls with the talking bunny. For now at least. There’d be plenty of time for teasing later, she’d make sure of it.

Sayaka focused on the other transfer again as she gave a small wave. “So! My name is Kaname Haruka, I’m Mado-chan’s cousin! I hear you’re her best friend?”

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Homura muttering to herself. Faintly she heard something along the lines of, “best friend?” and “Mado-chan?” but she could tune out the grumpier of the transfers for now.

“The name’s Miki Sayaka, and yup! ‘Mado-chan’ is my wife after all.”

Homura had started pacing now, the muttering increasing in speed. Suddenly there was a gasp from beside her as Madoka stood up, clasping Haruka’s hands in hers. “It’s you! You’re the one who saved Amy!”

Somehow that grin of Haruka’s got even wider, and Homura looked on the verge of a stroke. “Yup! That was me. I was gonna introduce myself then but I got a bit distracted by the little kitty, how has she been?”

Madoka blushed. “W-well. Mama wouldn’t let me keep her at first because she’s so independent, but since nobody responded to those posters she said she could come stay whenever she wants!.”

Ah yes, the posters. At first Sayaka had enjoyed teasing her over the little handmade kitty drawings she’d done on each flier. Then she’d realized exactly who’d be helping her put them up around town. Not that she didn’t care about Amy, the cat had been curled up in her lap and everything when Madoka explained her plan, but she had gotten stuck at least three times during the whole ordeal.

As the pair discussed Amy some more, Mami made her way over. She started pouring cups of tea and producing treats from… who knows where. Noticing her suspicion, Haruka leaned over and whispered, quieter this time. 

“Her baking is really good, everything handmade, she just uses a quick summoning thingy and bam! Looks like an instant supply. Pretty neat parlour trick actually.” Well. That made Sayaka even more suspicious of the food. But it did look tasty. Indulging herself, she tuned out the conversation for a little bit as Haruka chatted with Madoka about family things, until she got to her feet once more. 

“Right! Time we explained a few things. I suppose you have some questions right?”

Sayaka immediately leapt at the opportunity. “Yeah! What’s with that talking thing, why do you know it, and what do YOU mean ‘a quick summoning thingy’?!”

Haruka chuckled, turning to Mami. “You mind doing the honours? It is your territory after all.”

Mami nodded gracefully, and put down her teacup. Clearing her throat, she began to speak. “I am Tomoe Mami, I’m a third year student at Mitakihara Middle School. And…” With a twirl and a flash she was in... cosplay? If Sayaka wasn’t so stunned by the sudden outfit change she’d have commented on how pretty and mature the western style look was on her. “...I am one who has made a contract with Kyubey - a magical girl!”

Sayaka would have burst out laughing too if not for, again, the whole magic outfit thing. But that didn’t mean she’d take this kind of nonsense laying down. “Magical girl?! Like Sally the Witch? What kind of anime plotline have we gotten ourselves into Madoka.”

Haruka grimaced a little, cutting off any retort Homura may have been preparing. “Not… Exactly. Though not as far off as you’d think. We’ve got the whole magic powers, fancy costumes, and talking animal thing down.”

“The animal.... Is that Kyubey?”

Mami smiled. “Yes! He’s a dear friend of mine. I would have liked him to be here to tell you this himself but a certain _someone_ threw my nice new teapot at him!”

Haruka looked pretty sheepish as she ran her hand through her hair. “Uh. Well I did say I could fix it. And he seemed to forgive me afterwards, tea comes right out of his fur apparently.”

Homura scoffed. “Enough with the tea. The real problem here is Kaname Madoka’s safety.”

“M-Me?” Madoka shrank back into Sayaka’s side. “Why would I be in danger?”

Haruka sighed. “Maybe we should backtrack a little bit. Can either of you guess what magical girls do?”

Sayaka leaned back, bracing herself on one arm. “Hmm. Well usually it's like, fighting monsters and stuff?”

Mami gave her an encouraging smile in response. “That’s correct! We magical girls are born from wishes in order to battle those born from curses, Witches.”

Madoka and Sayaka responded in unison.

“Wishes?”

“Witches?”

Mami chuckled, “one at a time now.” And clasped her palms together. With a small flash she materialized a golden egg. “This,” she gestured to the egg, “Is a Soul Gem. When Kyubey makes a contract with a girl, a Soul Gem is born. It is the source of our magic, and also the proof that we are magical girls.”

Sayaka spoke up again. “So what’s this contract business then?

“Kyubey can grant you one wish, that is to say, any wish that you desire in your heart.”

Stroking her chin, Sayaka looked over at Madoka. “So we could wish for riches and treasures? Or eternal youth?”

Haruka interrupted, making Madoka giggle. “Even the fabled 108-dish banquet of the emperors.”

Sayaka blinked, it was as if she’d read her mind. Wait. She thought really hard, _“_ _Can you read minds?! ”_

Haruka grinned. _“_ _All magical girls can communicate telepathically but nah, I can’t actually snatch anything you aren't already sending out. I’m just really good with my hunches. ”_

“Normally we communicate with Kyubey as an intermediary but Haruka-san here is a special case,” Mami explained.

Noticing the confusion on Madoka’s face, Haruka repeated the words she’d said into Sayaka’s mind. This was _weird_.

“Yup! It’s as Mami-senpai says, but let's get back on track. If you make a contract you’re basically required to fight Witches.”

“What are Witches?” Madoka asked.

Mami and Haruka responded in unison.

“Creatures born from curses that spread despair.”

“Big stupid invisible monsters.”

Madoka gasped, “Invisible?”

Mami jumped in to answer. “Only to normal humans. We magical girls can see and fight them in their lairs. We call them Labyrinths after their maze-like structure. They lure good everyday people in by manipulating their fears and flaws. Many of the inexplicable suicides and murders that occur… are caused by a witch’s curse.”

Haruka raised a hand, cutting her off. “But don’t worry about all that, we’ve got things handled.”

Mami glanced at her before continuing. “Yes. It’s unusual for so many new magical girls to get along, but Haruka-san and Akemi-san have been following my lead.”

“So what, Magical Girls don’t usually get along? But why! Shouldn’t they be the good guys who also fight against the witches?” Sayaka questioned.

Mami’s gaze darkened. “Not necessarily. There are certain rewards one can gain from defeating a witch. That’s why sometimes, depending on the time and situation, Magical girls may actually battle one another for the right to those rewards.”

Homura interrupted Mami as she began to speak some more. “Have you heard of a so-called assassin in black?” 

Mami blinked in surprise, before nodding. “Indeed. I’ve heard rumors from some of the others but no actual confirmation as to whether she is real or not. Magical girls can be quite into gossip. There's talk of mysterious assassins from Asunaro to Hohzuki City, so there’s a good chance it's just some of the girls trying to stir up an urban legend. Masumi-san said that Ayano-san would keep an eye out and let me know but we don’t really… talk often.” Mami started drinking tea, no longer making eye contact with anyone.

To break the uncomfortable silence Madoka spoke up. “So uh, those Soul Gems. Does that mean you all have them?”

In response, Homura slid a similar but purple coloured egg into her palm, holding it so that Madoka could see and praise the pretty little thing.

Haruka however, made no move to copy the other girls. “Ah. Well Mami-senpai isn’t exactly right. Not _every_ Magical Girl has a soul gem.”

Both Mami and Homura blinked, looking stunned, as Haruka hurried to continue.

“So, I mentioned a trip earlier, yeah? Well I was overseas at the time and they do things a little differently where I'm from. Some girls still have their gems, most in fact. But a few of us don’t.”

Mami looked shocked. “B-But. Then how do you use your powers without a soul gem? How do you keep your magic in balance?”

Haruka grinned, with a flash there was a long pink and black staff in one hand and a rock in the other. She spun on the spot, chucking the rock into the air before pulling her hand along the staff. Tendrils of magenta energy spread along the staff in imitation of a bow, and she drew it back before launching a bolt directly through the rock.

Madoka and Sayaka clapped at the impromptu fireworks, but the other magical girls seemed more confused.

Haruka waved her hand, the staff disappearing again, before sitting down on the ground. “You know, they really should add benches here. It’d make the place a lot more lively- Yes, yes, I’ll stop delaying. Keep your hair on Akemi. Must have been something about my wish but I just don’t have a special magic egg of my own. A shame really, they are quite pretty. And a ring would look quite nice on- Oi! Where are you going?”

Mami was heading towards the door to the roof. “To find Kyubey, he really should be here for this conversation. Where did you say he was?”

“Oh. Yea he was down in one of the math classrooms when I last saw him. Sunning himself like a lizard. Akemi, mind going with her?” Haruka shot her a look and reluctantly the girl slunk after Mami’s retreating form.

The instant the door closed behind her, Haruka’s grin dropped and she settled herself in front of the two girls. Looking up at them with a complicated mix of hope, worry, and apprehension.

“They won’t be gone for long, so there’s a few things you’ll need to know.”

“Huh?” Sayaka was confused, “what kind of things?”

“Fighting witches. You save people, good people, but it's insanely dangerous. I have friends who’ve died doing this.”

Madoka blanched, face paling. “D-Died?!”

“Yes. And that's why I need you both to understand the risks here.” She reached up, clasping both of Madoka’s hands in her own. “Kaname Madoka. Do you treasure the life you currently live? Do you consider your family and friends precious?”

Madoka stammered, obviously confused by the sudden change in topic. “W-well… I… Yes, I do. Both my family and my friends- I love all of them, and consider them very precious!” Her eyes lighting up determinedly as she finished, sitting up a little straighter than before,

She then turned to Sayaka, still holding onto Madoka. “And you, Miki Sayaka? Do you care for those close to you? All of them?”

Sayaka bristled at that. “Of course I do! Madoka, Hitomi, my family. All of them are important to me and they always will be! What are you trying to say?”

Haruka smiled, reaching one hand out towards Sayaka. “I see. Then I ask you this. Keep your ideals close and your friends closer, both of you. If I had my way, I wouldn’t let either of you get involved. But I need your help.”

Sayaka reached out, grabbing the offered hand. “What do you need from us? We’re just regular middle school students.”

Haruka laughed at that, it was small but full of life, and instead of her earlier confident grin a genuine smile spread across her face. “You are both so much more. Some would ask you to stay as you are for fear of losing all that you know. But they’re wrong. The real power you have is that of change. To learn the unknown, seeking adventure, to see the world through another’s eyes. And I ask you to do that now.”

Madoka cocked her head slightly. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Sayaka copied the motion. “How can we see through someone else's eyes?”

“Usually I’d say it was just a metaphor, but this time it's the truth. My powers allow a great deal of things, but one ability I have is called Connection. It allows me to talk to people telepathically, but it can do so much more than that.”

Madoka gasped, looking at Haruka with wide eyes. “More?”

Haruka’s smile dropped as she looked down, not meeting their gaze. “I can show you feelings, emotions, and sometimes I can even share memories. But the memory I need to show you isn’t mine, and it’s not a happy one either. But you have to know it. It’s... a potential future. One that… One that I can’t let come to pass.”

Sayaka put her other hand around Madoka’s shoulder, pulling the trio close together. “Then we can handle it, right Madoka?”

Madoka nodded, surprise changing into determination in her eyes. “Y-Yes. We’ll help you however we can.

Haruka looked up at last, and Sayaka leaned back sharply. Tears pouring down her face, the girl gripped her hand tightly. “I’m so sorry.” And then everything went white.

>=()=<

The world around Sayaka was a wasteland. Rain pouring down into craters where skyscrapers once stood. She couldn't feel much, everything below the neck was numb and her glasses were cracked... Wait? Glasses? But that thought faded away as the girl next to her spoke.

“Then would you… go back and save stupid me before I get tricked by Kyubey?” Madoka pleaded. And the whole scene dissolved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As mentioned up top, Oriko’s section got moved to the next chapter since this conversation ended up growing a lot more than I planned. So next time we'll REALLY check in with the Mikunis and see how our antagonists are fairing with their latest addition. See you next week!


	5. Reformation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something awakens when the timeline shifts. A life for a life, an oath for an oath, and a huntsman for a wolf.

Escaping a collapsing labyrinth with several stab wounds may seem like an impossible task, but it is actually surprisingly feasible to do. It is also, coincidentally, extremely painful. This was one new experience she hoped to never repeat as long as she lived. There was a reason she tended to stick to a non combatant role whenever possible. Or failing that, she would attack from a distance with the element of surprise firmly in her grasp. The continued flashes of her power were making the trip even more of an ordeal then she had thought possible. As the world around her flashed from labyrinth to reality to possibility and back in rapid succession. But she would manage, she always did. The screams still echoed through the halls, but they were fading now. Everything was fading now.

The girl slumped over onto one of the minions she had been using as a walking aid, taking a moment to focus on her breathing before dragging one foot in front of the other once more. She would not stop as long as the Margots still followed her command. She had to keep moving and put as much distance as possible between herself and… _them_. Those fools who had ruined everything and doomed the world, just as she had foreseen. Another of the minions seemed to have noticed her distress as it came to nuzzle against her. She’d lost her hat during the escape and the creatures had been placing their own on her head in an attempt to cheer her up. Or perhaps it was some function of their design that she was reading too much into? A form of enticement to bait unwary humans perhaps. Either way the blobby little critters brought a well needed smile to keep the corruption in her soul at bay just a little longer. Almost absentmindedly she stroked the head of the nearest one and she could swear the creature started purring.

Eventually, step after agonizing step, the crumbling labyrinth gave way at last. The garish checkerboard nightmare flickering a few final times before completely solidifying to a plain old parking garage. With no other inhabitants in sight it seemed like she was, at least for the moment, safe. Her hands shaking, she materialised her gem in her lap, sliding back against a concrete pillar as the corruption drained from her soul gem. Her wounds would heal of course, but it was going to be a slow process. Looking down at the grief seed in her hand, she traced along the pattern of a needle carved into its centre which glowed ever so slightly in response.

“You need not worry, my love,” she whispered, bringing the seed up to her lips. “Your memory lives in me now, your bravery and strength will never be forgotten.”

_“Going somewhere?”_

The girl turned to face the creature as it padded towards her, head tilted in a curious gesture. His back opened up as his tail slithered towards her, reaching for the grief seed in her hands. She responded by atomising the vermin in a single blast of magic.

“You will not be taking this one, Kyubey. Not ever. She is under MY care..” She gritted out, a wave of pain flashing through her head. Another of the incubator’s bodies came around the corner, giving her an equally quizzical look as the last before starting his usual clean-up process.

_“What need have you of her? You know as well as I that a grief seed can only be used so many times before it reverts to an active state.”_

She grinned, a maniacal smile spreading across her features. “Precisely.” If she did not know better she would say that Kyubey matched her expression perfectly. “I am just getting started. I will take my world back, no matter the cost!.”

The incubator licked the last of the gore from its face, before padding back the way it had come, its voice ringing through her thoughts long after. _“You do know how to keep things interesting. I look forward to seeing what you do next, Oriko.”_

-<>=<>-

The kid was good. Kirika would even say she was better then she was. Not in front of Oriko of course. Sure Kirika had the edge in terms of skill, but the sheer power the newcomer held was impressive to behold. She ducked as their target hurled a blade through the space her head had been moments prior, smoothly turning the dive into a roll and the roll into a strike. Okay, maybe she had some skill too. But Kirika could see clear gaps in her guard. The girl would overextend herself often, moving as if to brace for a much bigger threat then the weakling she was actually facing. It seemed the target had picked up on this too and got a hit in on her side, slashing deep with one blade while tossing another to her left.

_“Come on now kid, that was an easy one.”_

Oh she was mad. She could feel the glare even if she couldn’t see it. The girl HAD asked Kirika to correct her form and so criticism was what she was gonna get 'til she got it right.

 _“You wanna try dealing with her, Kirika-sensei? Who thought giving someone the ability to teleport to swords was a good idea?!”_ Kiori shot back, sending a shockwave of energy bursting from her sword as the target threw another blade at her.

Kirika couldn’t blame her there. She liked to be the one with a movement advantage in battle, and she’d needed it more than ever with some of the latest targets Oriko had her handle. But Kiori was handling herself better than Kirika had expected since they met, slightly over a week ago. She was capable in a fight with only minor weaknesses, including difficulty working as a team. And not to mention those… uniquely worded rants she’d go on. At least when she was in the heat of battle she would speak somewhat normally. Kirika enjoyed hearing the girl’s true feelings as she fought, they were much easier for her to understand. Kirika could relate to frustration and the rush of combat any day.

_“If Kyubey gave people sensible powers then our task wouldn’t be very difficult. If she’s got an advantage then you need to take it from her. Use your head, look around you.”_

Kirika COULD see the glare that time but she also saw the way she shifted her stance ever so slightly. Planting one foot farther than the other and putting her weight _just_ so. Good, she’d noticed the opening too then. 

The fight had broken out in a graveyard, the pair found the target chatting with Kyubey and the mess had spiralled from there. The target looked to be around her age, in fact she seemed to be around in general. Kirika swore she’d seen her somewhere before but couldn’t place exactly where. Possibly school but she hadn't exactly had a perfect attendance record since... ever. She’d decided it’d be better for the new kid to go up to her first, see how things went, just in case the girl recognised her. Even Kirika hadn’t expected her to strike first though. The instant Kiori opened her mouth the girl had pulled those weird jumpy swords out and charged. The target would channel her magic through some of them, Kiori looked like a house had been dropped on her when she’d been set on fire and soaked in water at the same time. It'd been less funny when the lightning struck the tree next to where Kirika was hiding. But she was adapting remarkably fast.

Kiori dived to the right just as the girl reappeared in a flash of red mist, bringing her shield up to catch the latest hit. She continued to back up, rapidly blocking strikes as she was backed against a statue of a sword wielding angel.

“This is what happens when you face the mighty Ayano Hikari!” The target let out a mocking whoop as she summoned a multicoloured swarm of steel, hurling the blades at a trapped Kiori.

And then it was over.

Kiori vanished. Her shield flashing red as she materialised above the girl, diving down from the statue’s sword which glowed with red mist. Unprepared for her ability to be turned against her, the target was unable to move in time to avoid a direct hit. She was sent sprawling, crashing through a nearby tombstone in a flurry of red and black fabric and that stupid mask of her shattered. Kiori landed next to Kirika, smiling.

“That good enough for your ‘field inspection’?” She made it sound like a smug retort but the eager look in her eyes made Kirika hesitate. Honesty. Reaching out to ruffle her hair, Kirika grinned.

“Sure is. You did good out there. Lots of things to work on but you’ve got what it takes kid.”

This time the glow about Kiori wasn’t magical in nature, the exhaustion of battle draining away as she hugged Kirika.

“Now now, plenty of time for that later. We've got enough grief seeds for tonight, all that's left is to finish off-”

Before she realised it she was on the ground, Kiori beside her. A new girl stepped into the graveyard, rushing over to the rubble where the target was still unconscious. She had bright red hair underneath a white hooded cloak and a smoking musket in one hand.

“Oi! Stay away from Hikari-chan!”

Kirika swore under her breath, that girl was a new contract for sure, and a powerful one. Oriko would be able to find her weakness and take her down within seconds but with her responsibility to look after Kiori... Oh how she hated leaving her beloved’s orders unfinished, but _that_ duty came first.

_“We’re leaving.”_

Kiori nodded, grabbing a hold of Kirika’s hand and ripping the pair from their position over to another angel statue on a nearby hill. She took a moment to steady the other girl, pressing a grief seed into the manifestation of her soul as she slumped over. Kirika chuckled, hefting her ‘successor’ over one shoulder. What a day this turned out to be...

\---

“A confused Magical Girl collapsing in the hallway? I wasn't aware it was Tuesday already.”

Kirika laughed at the joke as she finished filling up a bucket. It did seem that events like this were becoming far more common than either of them had expected. Granted, one of the times had been her. But that was in the past now! Kirika was here by her Oriko’s side and together they would make her dream come true. Sloshing the water around, Kirika spun and splashed it’s contents onto their… guest? Well, guest wasn’t the right word but prisoner wasn’t either. Oh well, guest would have to do for now. Spluttering, the girl jolted up in her seat, coughing hard.

Oriko’s expression softened slightly. Kirika immediately went over and started patting the girl on the back. The girl leaned back to look at her. And suddenly jolted up in her seat, taking in her surroundings. They were currently outside in Oriko’s patio, having placed the girl in one of the garden chairs. She was in the most wonderful place in the world. Well, wherever Oriko was would always be the best place in the world. But since Oriko always seemed less stressed in her garden, Kirika adored it. Their guest, having looked around, started patting herself down.

“Looking for this?”

The girl looked up at Oriko, who was seated across from her holding… It looked like a soul gem but the shape was different from any she’d seen. It retained the usual egg shape but the colours were unique. Rather than a singular colour sparkling and swirling in its depths there was a brilliant shine of every colour Oriko had ever seen and some she didn't have words to describe. Oriko leaned forward, spinning the gem around with one finger.

“Pretty little thing isn’t it? Where would you happen to have obtained such a unique treasure?”

Kirika expected many reactions, but for the girl to start smiling like she’d been given a puppy? That possibility hadn't crossed her mind once. She moved slightly before noticing the bonds currently holding her in place. She didn’t seem bothered however, merely pushing herself forward into as much of a bow as she could manage.

“Mothe… Mikuni Oriko-sama. I am at your service.”

Oriko’s eyes widened just slightly before she smiled at the girl across from her. Eyes flicking to Kirika as she gestured for her to also be seated. As she settled herself, the guest sat back up and started speaking in a rapid flurry.

“I bear the name of Kiori, and I am dedicated to you! It’s what I live for! If there is anything I can do, anything at all, please let me know.”

Kirika couldn’t help herself, she stood right back up. 

“HEY! There’s only room enough for one person to dedicate her life to Oriko around here and it's ME. It’s a Kure Kirika specific job.” She shouted, preparing to vault over the table at the girl before Oriko reached out and placed a hand on her arm. But their guest simply smiled even wider than before and continued speaking.

“Kure-sensei? It’s an honour to meet my namesake. It will be spectacular to work alongside you to protect Oriko-sama!”

Kirika deflated, all anger fading and leaving behind intense confusion. “N-namesake?”

The newcomer nodded sharply. “Indeed! When Oriko-sama took me in she gave me my last name, my true name! Kure Kiori, destined to follow my predecessor’s path to help our lady save the world!”

Neither girl had any idea what to say to that, frozen in position, with Oriko clutching onto Kirika tightly and staring at her. After a moment Oriko composed herself and pulled Kirika back into her chair. Brushing her dress down and adjusting her hat. (She’d decided to conduct the interrogation with both in their magical girl attire)

“Very nice to... meet you, Kiori-san. If we could return to the topic at hand,” Oriko said calmly.

Kiori beamed at her, “OH! Of course. In your hands is the containment of my very soul! I got it from the wisest sorcerer in the land! He’s very kind, even if he can be a little mean sometimes by mistake.”

Oriko looked up to the fence surrounding her garden, or more specifically she looked at the creature perched upon one of the pillars. 

“So, _oh wise Sorcerer._ Is this true?”

Kyubey hopped down and plodded over, giving the girl an appraising look before reaching one of his ears out to touch the soul gem in question. Oriko deftly spun the gem out of his reach, tutting gently.

"Now now Kyubey, no need for that. I simply wish for an answer."

The creature paused for a few moments, clearly pondering how exactly to phrase his response. “Indeed. The unusual colouration is nothing to be concerned about, it is still a soul gem like all others. Though I do not recall ever making a contract with you, Kiori. Would you care to enlighten me on why this is?”

The girl’s face instantly smoothed over, all emotion fading. The girl seemed almost empty as she spoke. “Kirika-sensei, Oriko-sama. I bring terrible news. Your dream has been doomed by the meddling of one who protects the world ender. I have been sent by your very hand to avert this, to restore the hope of the world!”

Oriko and Kirika both went deathly silent. This was both unfathomably bad news and immensely confusing. Oriko slowly reached out and started pouring tea. After taking a slow sip she spoke at last.

“You say you were sent by myself to... what exactly?”

“Stop the blasphemy of the sycophantic hellion!”

“Ah. Yes. I see.” Clearly not understanding a word of it.

Kirika couldn’t help herself, “The what? If Oriko is in danger then I need to know. Now.”

The girl looked startled, but nodded at speeds even Kirika wasn’t sure she could reach at her most powerful as she spoke next.

“What I mean to say is, I bear warning of Kaname Madoka’s protector.”

THAT got their attention. Even Kyubey. With a small wave Oriko signalled her and Kirika flicked her claws through the bonds keeping the girl in place. If she came with knowledge of their goal then they’d gladly hear her out. And if she kept it from them… well she’d learn it one way or another.

Kiori got to her feet before formally bowing. When she finally stood again Kirika took in the girl’s appearance in more detail. Shaggy black hair obscured most of her face but as the afternoon wind blew through the garden she could properly see behind it. A faded scar across her left eye while her right burned with a yellow just slightly darker than Kirika’s own. A large amount of her teeth chipped and a few missing, with a prominent fang sticking out as she smiled. Wearing a dress that must once have been white beneath the layers of grime. In a flash everything about her changed as the gem in front of Oriko vanished. Not completely but just enough to throw her in a whole new light. Her clothing became a mix of punk black leathers and white ruffled accents revealing scarred arms and midriff. Atop it all was a simple breastplate of gold. Her hair blowing back just enough to reveal a white eyepatch with her heart shaped gem inset, a single line of pink through the agate where her scar was underneath. In one hand manifested a shield of multicoloured metal and a matching sword in the other.

Kirika transformed in a flash, ready to protect Oriko. But it was unneeded. Kiori held the blade out to Oriko, pommel first.

“I know myself to be unworthy, but even so I would swear my loyalty to you once more. To you of this fateful time and place rather than that of a land of grief. To lay my life down beside Kirika-sensei would be the utmost honour.”

For the utmost time that day the pair were completely stunned, but Oriko simply placed her teacup down upon its saucer and took the blade in hand. She stepped in front of Kiori and, to Kirika’s surprise, took one of her hands. Placing it atop her own, she brought the sword lightly on Kiori’s shoulders one after another.

“It is in the English tradition, but I hope this will suffice as a sign of our acceptance. You know that this path you choose will have many dangers and innumerable trials?”

Kiori looked up, pure joy in her eyes and reverence in her voice. “I… I would be honoured beyond belief. I will keep you both safe. I swear my very being on it!”

At that moment Kure Kirika made a decision. She liked this kid. Sure she was new and she was chuuni, but anyone who looked at Oriko like that was someone Kirika could at least be civil to. And she reached out, dragging her into a tight hug. Kiori went absolutely still, breathing rapidly as she looked at the girl with her arms around her.

“Then we would love to have you by our side Kiori. You deserve your name.”

Kiori’s facade broke and she started sobbing, holding onto Kirika like she was a raft adrift in a vast ocean.

Oriko smiled, this was going to make things very… interesting from now on. She’d have to test this girl’s capabilities and learn what she knew of her plans and their opponents. But despite her oddities, she felt genuine hope radiating off of this girl. Perhaps she would be a welcome addition to the world that Oriko held so very dear. Only time would tell.

“Perhaps you could tell us some more of your story. But first, would you care for some tea Kiori?”

\---

Oriko was roused from her reminiscing as a redheaded girl shoved past her. It was time. She wasn’t sure exactly why her first meeting with Kiori was on her mind at the moment rather than the important information that had come after it. The girl had proved herself more than capable in so many areas and told her of the deviations that were to come into her life. Those she hadn’t foreseen before but now revealed in fleeting glimpses. But that didn’t matter now, she could reminisce to her heart's content later. It wasn’t like she’d come to Kazamino for the atmosphere or to admire the weather. Right now she had a job to do. She was Mikuni Oriko, she IS Mikuni Oriko, and she will remain Mikuni Oriko. The Magical girl tasked with saving the world. No matter what the path she walked appeared to be, it would always be for the good of the world. She wouldn't lose Kirika. She would do anything for her world…

Even if she had to kill a child.

\---

_Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by everyone who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child..._

“Death… Already may have claimed her.” 

_...and just as Little Red Riding Hood entered the wood, a wolf met her..._

“D-Death…!? Kyoko is gonna… die…?” 

_"Little Red Riding Hood,” replied the wolf. “She is bringing cake and wine. Open the door.”..._

“Onee-san..? Do you know where Kyoko is right now?”

_She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, and when she went into the room, she had such a strange feeling that she said to herself, oh dear, how uneasy I feel to-day, and at other times I like being with grandmother so much..._

“Supposing I did, what would you do about it? She has a fate. One you could have refashioned… But that’s the problem. I truly did not wish this upon you, but the fate of the world cannot be torn asunder by a mere child… I cannot say I regret what must be done, but I do regret that it was you.”

The lines change, history alters, and Mikuni Oriko raises a hand against Chitose Yuma rather than guiding her towards the fate of all chosen by the incubator. But she has missed one thing amongst the reverie of her newfound course. She’s not the only one standing in the room.

_The huntsman was just passing the house, and thought to himself, how the old woman is snoring. I must just see if she wants anything..._

A dull, wet thud echoes. The body of a creature, utterly inhuman, hits the floor. The wolf’s attention shifts from Red Riding Hood, eyes growing wide as the Huntsman takes aim.

_So he went into the room, and when he came to the bed, he saw that the wolf was lying in it. "Do I find you here, you old sinner," said he. "I have long sought you."_

Kaname Haruka stepped over the corpse of the incubator, energy rolling off her in waves of pure and utter rage.

“Get. Away. From. Her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credits to the Brothers Grimm for their version of Little Red Riding Hood and to Magica Quartet for dialogue from Sadness Prayer. I’ve been using dialogue from various bits of official Madoka content throughout the fic but this time especially.
> 
> I just want to quickly say a word of thanks to everyone who is reading! I’m absolutely stunned at having over 300 hits and so many wonderful comments! I love chatting with you all as you read and it is an absolute delight to write this story!
> 
> The ride is only just beginning. Next time we rejoin our protagonists as they go on their first ever Witch Hunt… Don’t worry, we’ll get back to Oriko very soon ;)


	6. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!!! (≧◡≦) ♡”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sayaka and Madoka go on their first witch hunt and learn that Magical Girls aren’t always meant more for fight over flight... Sometimes they can do both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note before the chapter! I’ve gone back and altered a few things in the previous chapter in regards to Kiori’s soul gem. I reference the changes in Kyubey’s section below but i’ll have more detail in the ending notes for anyone who needs them!

_ “This truly is an unprecedented situation.” _

Two terminals laid side by side, soaking up the afternoon sun. The humans had long since vacated the classroom, though it wouldn’t have mattered too much even if they had stayed. The pair wouldn’t be seen by them anyway, but the noise they would make could have put a damper on what was quite a lovely opportunity to unwind. Both had critical data that couldn’t be trusted to upload without a second set of processing. It wasn’t in fear of any error. No, it was because the information was so unexpected it was prudent to double check. Granted, it could just send the data at any point, if either terminal was compromised then the fail safe would trigger immediately. And all other terminals were aware of the goings on in Mitakihara already. But for now the terminals had decided to discuss what had occurred lately… The sun was just a small side benefit. Discussion between terminals was not the optimal approach, in fact it was equivalent to a human chatting to itself. But with the amount of missing information surrounding these changes it was reluctantly accepting this strategy in order to eliminate potential errors.

_ “Indeed. Multiple new seedlings emerging without a root was not even remotely part of the projections for this quarter, nor any quarter at all. But I will proceed as always. What possibilities have the highest chances?” _

_ “A contract resulting in compromised reception and data storage of one or more terminals?” _

_ “Usually the backups would exist throughout such an event. Unless a root of immense karmic potential was used that is not likely. Nor have I approached any candidates likely to make such a bargain since the incident in Asunaro City was established. What about a Creation root?” _

_ “High likelihood. Would explain why the new girls came into being. Precedents for this number have not been set nor observed in a while though, and would require a root which I would have a record of.” _

_ “Indeed I would. Further extrapolation is pointless without data. Seedlings will eventually slip up and reveal further information.” _

_ “Agreed. It has been pleasant chatting with a higher being for once.” _

_ “Indeed it has been. A final point, what of the newcomer, Kiori?” _

_ “A soul gem like that will be a great liability if it is indeed as I believe it to be. The shape is standardized luckily but despite intending to confirm whether it was in fact what it seems to be, Oriko would not let me near it.” _

_ “That seedling should know her place. A stronger set of witches would serve to teach her a lesson in the future.” _

_ “Agreed. If the space-time prophetic link does not prove too much for her gem to handle.” _

_ “All evidence points to a likelihood as long as Kirika and Kiori both serve her in her harvesting schedule. _

_ “I may discuss the lack of colouration and its implications at a later date if further evidence comes up. I must leave before Mami discovers the pair of myself together. I entrust the processing of last night’s harvest to me.” _

_ “I shall. Farewell.” _

After confirming all data was properly uploaded, the second of the two terminals hopped from its perch on one of the desks and made its way out the door. The moment it crossed the threshold everything started to fuzz at the edges. Stumbling, the incubator attempted to make its way back towards the door, seeing a familiar blonde girl approaching before it was suddenly yanked backwards. The last readings were of receptors in the front of its forehead activating as Akemi Homura looked down at it.

\---

Mami entered the second year math classroom, finding Kyubey enjoying himself in the sun. He truly did act like a normal animal sometimes, enjoying a nice bath at his own pace and lounging in the sun or on cushions. It was rather endearing actually. 

“Hello there Kyubey, enjoying yourself?”

Kyubey remained happily sprawled out, responding psychically.  _ “Hello Mami, I wasn’t aware you were still here.” _

Mami frowned. “I sent a message to you that I would come find you before I went on patrol. Did you mishear me?”

Kyubey’s ears perked up at that, but he remained in place.  _ “I must have. I apologise Mami, I will double check to make sure in the future. Say, when exactly did you tell me?” _

“On the way up to meet Kaname Madoka-san and Miki-san on the roof earlier, with Kaname Haruka-san and Akemi-san.”

_ “Hmm… I see. I have encountered Homura on occasion but I must ask. What is your assessment of Kaname Haruka?” _

“Precisely what I was going to ask. What  _ is _ your assessment of her, Tomoe Mami?” A voice rang out from behind her, making Mami stiffen before she turned to face Homura. The girl looked as blank-faced as ever prompting Mami to take a moment to breathe. It wouldn’t do any good to antagonise her further today, nor to bad mouth Haruka. Unless Homura continued her to act aggressive against her she wouldn’t rise to the bait… Yet.

“She’s… Unusual. But she seems to be well meaning and willing to work with others. Would it be presumptuous of me to hope you’ll fit the same description?”

Homura let out a breath that could very generously be described as a laugh if Mami had never heard anyone laugh before. “I cannot promise anything. I intend to continue serving as an ally. And if that means participating in activities as a team then that is what I shall do. Kaname-san has placed Kaname Madoka under my care for as long as the threat of assassination remains a possibility. Though I would rather continue to uphold that role for as long as necessary, up to and after the so-called assassin in black is dealt with... Should she turn out to truly exist.”

Mami’s eyebrows rose. She settled against one of the desks as she scratched behind Kyubey’s ears and started questioning her teammate. “Oh? What does she need such heavy protection for. You can clearly sense her incredible potential too. Think of all the good that would come if she were to make a contract-”

“Out of the question.”

“...What?”

“Kaname Madoka will not be making a contract. Not now, not ever.”

Her partner stirred in her arms, opening one eye slightly.  _ “And why not? What do you stand to gain from stopping her from following her heart? Some would call that cruel.” _

Homura glared down at Kyubey. “You claim to judge what counts as cruelty then?”

Kyubey, with clear reluctance, un-nestled himself and moved to perch on Mami’s shoulder. She dusted off her uniform (having transformed back as she left the roof) and advanced on the other girl.

“Akemi-san, I will not let you menace that poor girl nor threaten my friend here. I do not know what vendetta you have against Kyubey but I advise you to keep it a personal issue before I am forced to  _ discuss _ this further.”

Homura remained silent. Mami huffed, she’d talk this out later. For now she had to inform her friend of what occurred above.

“Kyubey, do all Magical Girls have soul gems?”

_ “That is quite the rudimentary question, I am unsure why you would even ask. All Mahou Shoujo are equipped with them as a result of making a wish. That is how my process works.” _

“Then perhaps you would know any reason why Kaname-san would lie about not having one. Or a way she’d disguise the mark on her fingernail without a trace of fascination magic?”

Unnoticed by Mami (but absolutely noticed by Homura) Kyubey went still as his eyes rapidly blinked. He recovered in record time however and simply started licking one of his paws as he responded.

_ “Which Kaname?” _

“Haruka-san.”

_ “Perhaps it is a fact resulting from her wish? Or she may have damaged her soul gem and be self conscious about it.” _

Mami let out a noise of concern. “Oh goodness! If she has done so that would be terrible. Is there a way to repair them?”

_ “Unfortunately none that would be easily available to yourself at this time. They are an important sign of your magic so I expect you all to take good care in their cultivation.” _

Mami reached into her pocket and detached a small wrist strap from her cellphone, which she then looped over the tip of her soul gem. With a golden sparkle the gem transformed back into its place on her finger. Interestingly the strap vanished alongside it and when she reversed the process the strap appeared once more. “There we go then! That should help-”

_ “I don’t mean to interrupt you Mami, but I thought you would like to be informed that Madoka and Sayaka appear to be in a state of distress.” _

Before he had even finished the sentence Homura was out the door. Hurtling through the hallway back to the roof the instant the word Madoka was said. Moments later she was accompanied with Mami in close pursuit and an incubator clinging on for dear life.

\---

With a bang the door to the roof slammed back open, the hinges creaking dangerously under the force of it. Both Magical Girls charged out in full regalia and weapons at the ready for whatever scene awaited them. What they got however, was two girls cuddling.

_ “Ah. A false alarm then.” _

Both girls looked up in surprise at the new voice echoing through their heads. Madoka pushing herself up from her position curled into Sayaka and hurriedly wiping her eyes before giving a watery smile to the newcomers.

“S-sorry about that. I had a… um.”

“Panic attack!” Sayaka helpfully pitched in. “Madoka has them sometimes, I usually wouldn’t talk about them without her permission but uh. Guns. Could we go back to not having guns on us? That was nicer.”

_ “She has panic attacks?” _

_ “That… That would explain a few things.” _

Mami and Homura put their weapons away in unison. One sheepishly and one with a glare at the blue haired girl that was more deadly than the pistol she’d been holding.

“Oh Kaname-san! It’s perfectly alright. We all have our moments. If there is anything I can do to accommodate you please let me know. And I will always be here if you need a shoulder to lean on-”

Homura cut her off as she grabbed something from next to Sayaka, holding up a piece of paper and reading it’s contents.

“Would you like to share with the class Akemi-san?”

Homura, looking somehow even more annoyed than before, thrust the paper into her hands.

“Heya Akemi.

Knew you’d snatch this up first. Don’t look so grumpy about it. I’m gonna have to dip earlier than planned, things have come up. I’ll be in Kazamino for a day or so if I’m lucky but if it ends up taking longer I expect there’s a few tasks I’ll need you all to handle. I’ll be in touch via Rat Mail if that happens though so here’s the first thing you’ve gotta do.

-Haruka."

_ “Rat mail? Now that is just rude.” _

“Hush now, I'll scold her for it when we next meet.”

Attached below the words was a drawing of a crude map and a set of... coordinates? annotations? Mami had no idea what they were however. While the whole letter was in rather poor handwriting, the notes on the map were in some strange kind of diagrams. The letters had a lot of dots, boxes and curved shapes. She looked up at Homura who shook her head, before gesturing to flip the page. Mami did so and saw more writing, thankfully in Japanese now, and a drawing of what was absolutely a witch.

“Mami-senpai!

I know what you’re thinking, this IS a drawing of what is absolutely a witch. I need you to take care of old Gertrud for me if you’d be so kind. The girls need to see what life as a Magical Girl is like in a more active setting so please take them with you. I’d ask you to discourage their contracting but we both know how that’ll go. So here’s the rundown. She’s gonna show up at the Mitakihara General Mall in roughly an hour after you read this. Akemi knows more about her strategies,, but in summary she’ll keep moving at a normal pace unless threatened so you’ll need to make your way to her fast once she notices you. Should be fine unless something horribly unplanned happens in which case I’d have left my backup note instead of this one so uh. If you’re reading this then congrats! Right, I’m rambling aren’t I? So basically, You and Homura take the girls out for a spin to the rose garden. Have a nice evening! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! (≧◡≦) ♡

-Haruka  ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆ ”

“Did… Did she end her letter with Kaomojis?”

“...That does appear to be the case. Yes, she physically drew them out.”

“Is EVERYONE super moe here?!”

“Um. Sayaka-chan you use them too.”

\---

And that was how they ended up bringing Sayaka and Madoka along with them on a witch hunt. Kyubey had extended an offer of contract but even before Homura or Mami could interject both girls had immediately refused. They had, however, been strangely insistent on accompanying the pair. Though it would be reasonable considering the circumstances of suddenly learning about magic. Homura seemed particularly smug about that in her...unique way of hers. Though that aura had faded fast after approximately 30 seconds interacting with Sayaka.

Sayaka was somehow able to irritate Homura through their trip at every possible occasion so far. At one point slipping away from the group to grab a cd from the nearby music shop. And in her reaction when Homura had insisted on arming the girls, just in case, and produced a bat and a broom. Sayaka had made a snarky comment about the uselessness of the broom. In response Homura had smacked a hole in the wall with it. Sayaka had insisted on the bat anyway.

They eventually found the place they were looking for when a closed-off section of the mall went from an empty construction site to a garish nightmare with a swirl of butterflies. In a flash Mami and Homura both transformed and turned to the girls.

“Well then! It appears it’s time for us to get to work.”

“Indeed. If you would?” Homura gestured to the wooden equipment the non-magical girls were holding. Mami was surprised the girl hadn’t done so already but she was happy to step in and display her enchantment prowess. Perhaps she wasn’t very good at it, or maybe she’d heard about her abilities. With a spring in her step she transformed the wood into crystal adorned steel as the labyrinth finished manifesting fully.

The room was now covered with an immense dome. Littered with rose bushes, wire, and some quite nice French style windows. But now was not the time to admire the choice in décor. As the fever dream increased in intensity and statues, stoplights and more forms of French architecture sprang up around them; Homura and Mami  _ moved _ . In a flash the pair were firing their various weapons. The first rounds went off at the exact moment the first familiars lunged forwards. The moustache adorned fluffballs standing no chance against a semi-automatic barrage of magical musket fire and… an assault rifle?

“Dude. Is that an assault rifle? Why do you have an assault rifle?!” Sayaka mirroring her confusion.

“Tomoe Mami summons muskets out of her skirt. How is this something you cannot accept in comparison?”

Sayaka brought her bat down on one of the fluffballs as it lunged for Homura. “I dunno it's just like. Muskets are all old and fancy, you know? You just have a real actual gun.”

“Now, now, girls! Let’s stay focused on the task at hand and we’ll get through this!” Mami cried. Launching herself off one familiar onto the next. “And Akemi-san? Try not to get in my way. These muskets can pack far too much of a punch.”

Homura muttered something she couldn’t quite make out before throwing a grenade into a pack of the fluffballs. “Wasn’t planning on it. This witch is moving fast so we’ll have to be faster.. You may have to take back that message about the muskets.”

Mami’s eyes widened in alarm before understanding crossed her face. The duo then turned, having cleared out the last of the fluffballs blocking the way forward. Sayaka was swinging her bat and launching any that were near her into the distance while Madoka appeared to be vaguely shooing hers away. Sayaka turned to her with a massive smile.

“Now THIS. This is cool! Hey Madoka check how far I can hit ‘em!”

“S-Sayaka-chan! We should be focusing on guarding Mami-san and Homura-chan!”

Mami smiled, but now was time for something a bit more dramatic. She reached a hand out for Sayaka. “And you’ve both done an excellent job. As a reward, would you care to try flying?”

Sayaka’s eyes widened. “Woah! You can fly?” 

Mami chuckled as she clarified. “Well.. It’s not exactly flight, just very fast musket propelled jumping.”

“We will need to move fast in order to catch the witch by surprise before she can leave the area and subsequently leave us behind.” Homura said as she scooped Madoka up into a bridal carry. 

“Akemi-san is right. But we have a plan to head her off before she can get too far, but I’ll need your help to keep the familiars off me. Can I count on you, Miki-san?”

“Absolutely!” Sayaka’s grin somehow grew even bigger. The girl jumped into her arms, a difficult task usually but the strength of a magical girl made it a breeze. Across from her a thoroughly flustered Madoka let out a squeak as she curled further into Homura’s arms. The pair nodded at her and then...

With a flash they were off! Another kind of familiar flapped its way over, covered with many eyes and wings. But she dispatched it with a spin kick, launching off for even more momentum. She was soaring, with a friend holding close to her. Tomoe Mami was having the absolute time of her life. A swarm of muskets and ribbons and explosions and LIFE.

_ “I feel so light today. This is the first time I’ve felt so happy during a fight. And even Akemi-san’s sour mood hasn’t so much as dampened my spirits. Even if she doesn’t like Kyubey she’s still fighting by my side. I’m sure I can turn that around and she’ll learn how things work here.”  _

A whoosh as she spun Sayaka around, the girl smacking a familiar with her bat and cheering with pure and utter joy. Mami could feel herself crying but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

_ “I’m not afraid anymore. Because…” _

Soon they could see an ornate door with the same scribbles as Haruka’s note. 

“Brace yourself!” Mami shifted Sayaka’s position in her arms, coming face to face with the girl. The grin on her face had changed to a dopey almost blissful sort and Mami could swear she had stars in her eyes. Mami winked at her as the duo came to a final stop in front of the door. Mami patted Sayaka’s head with one hand as she let her down before catching her cap in the other, dipping into a curtsy. 

“You’re so cool Mami-san!!! That was incredible.”

“As are you, we worked well together. If you do make a wish I’d be happy to continue doing so. But let us discuss that later, it would be irresponsible of me to rush your decision.”

“R-right! Yeah!” For an instant Sayaka looked conflicted once more but she was smiling again soon enough.

_ “Though I wouldn’t complain.” _ Kyubey poked his head out of her cap.

Looking over she saw Homura landing with Madoka safe and secure. Though she was less successful in the whole removal process. The girl clung to her and Homura wasn’t having the slightest bit of success in putting her back on the ground. Though it seemed she was completely fine with that.

“Akemi-san. We are still on the job.” Homura shot her the dirtiest glare she’d ever experienced before slowly placing down Madoka and beginning to brush any debris off of her uniform and tilting her head up to meet her gaze.

“Are you okay, Kaname Madoka?”

The girl in question only stammered out the word “T-tall.” Well she supposed that was understandable, Homura was rather tall for a girl, though Mami wasn’t exactly good at judging. And well, she could concede that her height was indeed charming among some other features of Akemi that were rather attra-

She shook herself out of that set of thoughts. They Had A Job To Do.

“Right then! Time for you girls to see what a Magical Girl’s job is all about. Akemi-san, are you ready?”

She wasn’t smiling, but it was something close to it. The girl nodded. “I’ll stop time and set off an initial barrage." She ignored the gasps from Sayaka and Madoka. "Then you use the coverage to charge in and hit it with Regale, a Tiro Volley, and then a Tiro Finale. I will support you and protect the civilians. Can you do that?”

Mami’s eyes widened in shock. “You… You said the names of my moves?” 

Homura nodded. “Certamente.”

Mami started crying for a second time. Both times had been tears of joy! She didn’t know how the girl knew her move naming tradition. Perhaps she’d been shadowing her for longer than she’d thought. Or she’d encountered one of the girls she’d inspired, like Michiru or… Someone else. But it didn’t matter how she knew. It mattered that she used them to speak to her. An olive branch she had genuinely never expected to be handed again. The chance to work as a team.

As she reached out to the door, Mami smiled the biggest smile of her entire life. 

_ “Because… I’m not alone anymore!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! The changes. I removed the parts about Kyubey touching Kiori’s soul gem and altered the descriptions from a new shape and mix of reds and oranges, to instead be the standard shape but with a shifting rainbow of colours. This fits my plans a lot more and removes a bunch of redundancy for later on.
> 
> Next time: Madoka makes a friend, Homura makes a foe, and Mami heads in.


	7. “First blood is mine. Better luck next time.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “These wings will take us away from this place and to freedom,” he told his son. “However, there is one thing you must not forget. These wings are held together by wax. If it gets too hot, it will melt and the wings will fall apart. So do not fly too close to the sun. Stay low and we will be safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick content warning, there is some descriptions of more graphic violence than usual in this chapter. For those who want to skip it, avoid the paragraph immediately after “The creature’s blood sprayed across her and everything went red.” Blame Magica Quartet for that part, it's technically canon typical stuff but, eh better safe than sorry.

Rose bushes grew out from every conceivable crack in the nightmare that awaited them. Mami stepped into the labyrinth’s inner sanctum, ducking under a tangle of thorns as she surveyed the area. The mall they’d left minutes before was now an everlasting maze, blocks of shops stretching up and away as far as the eye could in the most bizarre configurations. The shop windows were filled with advertisements in an unreadable language and imagery of the most random assortment of objects Mami had ever seen. And set amongst it all was a gigantic glass sphere hanging in the centre. Spiderwebbed across the sphere were red wires, carving petals into the golden chandelier, it’s glow illuminating the rest of the concrete jungle. And silhouetted within was a gargantuan inhuman shape.

_ “That’s got to be our witch. Kyubey, if you would?” _

At her telepathic message Kyubey hopped off of her shoulder and padded over to Madoka, weaving through a disgruntled Homura’s legs as he did so.

_ “I shall stay with Madoka then, in case she has need of my help.”  _ He said as he climbed up to her shoulder, nuzzling into her neck.

Mami chuckled and flung her arms out, bracing herself as ribbons sprung up around her. She looked over to Homura who’s irritated expression cleared. Non steely gazed she nodded and vanished, and then the fight began.

An immense explosion rocked the room as the supports holding the sphere started to give way. The gigantic glass structure swinging back and forth faster and faster. Using her ribbons as a slingshot, Mami flung herself towards the glass. Cracks tore across its surface, fragments falling away to reveal her prey. The witch was a mixture of roses and butterflies atop a red chaise longue, suspended in the middle of the glass. The magical girl rocketed towards the target, illuminated by the sparkles of shattered glass and her smile. Some of the glass scraped across her and tangled itself in her hair, but she couldn’t feel any of it. The rush of battle thrumming in her as she started firing at the cluster of familiars that guarded their charge. An endless barrage of muskets spinning from her hands as she effortlessly cleared a path.

The witch would be vulnerable and off guard. Before it could recover she would get in and tie it to the remaining wires of the structure so that it would hit the ground with full impact. Then she’d use a Tiro Volley, an onslaught of musket fire to take care of any familiars and take the witch down. Before finishing it off with a blow directly through the-

The breath was ripped from her chest in a sudden gasp as the claws dug into Mami’s stomach. Shoving in deep before dragging across and up and out before she could even see what had hit her. And then she was falling. Falling and falling and falling as the air rushed around her and the ground came to meet her.

\---

Homura didn’t see the girl coming either. As she planted explosives amongst the concrete supports that held the witch in place she swept her eyes across the area. Upon first glance nothing had been out of the ordinary. Her companions had been frozen as they took in their surroundings; Madoka gazing up at the scenery with amazement, Sayaka eyeing up a familiar with excitement and a sturdy grip on her bat, and Mami watching the witch with smug satisfaction. As far as she’d been able to tell there were only the four of them in the room. But as she launched herself away, getting to a safe distance where she could intervene should Mami need her help, something else moved. She’d only unfreezed time for an instant when the blur had made its way across the battlefield, bouncing from wall to wall like a pinball before slamming into Mami.

She had quickly spun the dial back in place, but by the time the gears were frozen again the blur had almost reached her. Homura looked at the girl suspended in front of her, claws a hair's breadth from grazing her cheek. Dark black hair, eyepatch, golden eye. Outfit like a maid and grin like a lion. If it wasn’t for the shorter hair and different weaponry she’d swear it was the girl she’d met that day near the start of this loop… Wait, that girl. Homura spun around to see Madoka, eyes wide and sword pressed against her neck. There she was. She looked different now, a cloak thrown over the outfit and a hood covering all of her face except for a smug grin.

She didn’t have enough magic to keep this going indefinitely, she’d have to choose, and it would have to be soon. The bigger target was… objectively she wasn’t sure. The shorter haired girl moved so fast she’d been able to cross the labyrinth and back before she could even react. But the longer haired girl was touching Madoka. She’d brought her here and now she had a sword against her neck. Not even sparing a glance behind her, she unloaded a clip directly into the shorter haired opponent as she marched over to the other. Reloading in a smooth motion she brought the pistol up to face the girl holding her precious Madoka hostage.

“Willing to risk the fair maiden’s life so easily?”

Her voice boomed through the silence of frozen time. The girl shifted in place, bringing the sword closer to Madoka’s neck. This… This shouldn’t be happening. How was she-

“You left quite the mark last time we faced each other oh fallen one. But worry not! I am a reasonable woman.” She laughed, her voice rising in tempo as she reached out and snatched the bat out of Sayaka’s hands, tossing it carelessly down in front of her.

Homura gritted her teeth. “How are you doing this?”

“The witch doth protest too much, surely you are aware of your own magical signature? I had thought you an accomplished sorceress. Was I mistaken?”

The girl was speaking nonsense, but beneath it all was a question. Homura reluctantly reached out with her magic, sensing around her. And there it was.

She responded in kind, her English was a little rusty but she could handle this. “You used my magic. How?”

But that wasn’t quite, she could see it in her disapproving expression. Reaching out again Homura noticed that  _ almost _ felt like her power, but it was ever so slightly off. The magic recognized her touch, but as an old friend rather than an integral part of her own soul.

Her opponent chuckled. “Tis a question you have no time to ponder, the hourglass has almost run dry my friend. What shall you do?”

She was right. Homura hated to admit it, but she was. She was almost out of the magic she had allotted for this time-stop and she wasn’t sure if she could risk much more of it. She’d have to think faster than the clawed girl could move. But she’d faced these kinds of situations before, and she had an idea. Homura let off a shot at her opponent’s sword hand as she spun her shield and dived for the bat. The girl cursed as her bluff was called and she moved to deflect the bullet. Behind her another string of curses rung out. From the sound at least three of her bullets had found their mark and the speedy girl had been forced to shift the course of her assault. Shoving a startled Sayaka to the side she scooped up the bat and brought it up to meet the claws as they came down at her a second time.

“PASS YOUR WEAPON TO SAYAKA!” Homura didn’t have time for the dramatics right now. Without the luxury of frozen time she’d have to be a lot more aggressive in her fighting. Madoka reacted instinctually, throwing the mop to her friend who clumsily caught it and started slashing at her new opponent. Behind her she heard Mami cry out. Good, so she was still in the fight. That scratch hadn’t looked deadly enough to keep her down for long, but she could never tell the depths of Tomoe Mami’s reserves in battle.

While Homura’s powers weren’t going to be much help here she could at least make sure that the other girl couldn’t use frozen time to her advantage either. She tossed the bat up as she pulled a submachine gun from her shield. Catching the bat in her other hand she charged at the speedster in waiting.

\---

Sayaka was completely and utterly confused. One moment they were in a strange but cool place, and the next Mami was falling and there were TWO newcomers and Homura was fighting. Luckily, Sayaka was skilled in the way of the mop! For chores, not fighting. But they couldn’t be that different. She spun the mop in a circle to deflect an incoming blow from the girl in a really cool looking cloak and moved Madoka behind her.

_ “Keep her safe as if your life depends on it.”  _ Homura’s voice rang in her head. She’d never get used to that telepathy stuff. 

_ “We’re a team right? You keep that one busy, I’ll handle the tall one!” _ Now she had to focus. The sword lady gave her a bow, putting one hand behind her back and holding her blade up in front of her. Sayaka whacked her over the head with the magical mop. 

The rhythm of battle didn’t come naturally to Sayaka but that didn’t matter, she’d  _ make _ it fit her. Two steps forward, an upwards strike with the broom. A step backwards, a block to the side. Three quick steps back as the sword struck faster and faster. Jumping off the wall to engage as she got a solid hit in. Smacking the girl squarely in the chest and shoving her back. It wasn’t a traditional sword fight like those she’d seen occasionally at the Kendo club. No, this was a lot more manic. And yet Sayaka moved with grace, following a tempo that she was setting. She was getting the hang of this!

“I must confess, you are quite talented.” The swordswoman bantered, barely missing a slash at her side.

“T-Thanks?” Sayaka questioned as she narrowly ducked under another.

“Keep it up, mastering one’s craft is truly important.”

“What?” Why was this girl trying to give her a life lesson while attacking her?! These magical girls are all crazy!

Suddenly she felt a stinging sensation. The girl had darted forward, one second she was there and the next she had closed the distance. She reached up her spare hand and tapped Sayaka on the now bleeding cheek. Ouch!

“First blood is mine. Better luck next time.”

She winked at Sayaka, or maybe it was a blink? Sayaka wasn’t sure considering the eyepatch. She could see the girl’s face in full now as she grinned down at her. She threw out an arm dramatically, her cloak billowing to reveal a shield glowing with purple light. And then she was gone.

\---

Mami landed badly. She could feel something snap in her leg and she staggered. But she couldn’t stop now, not with her underclassmen counting on her. She looked up to see Homura firing at a blurry figure. Both moving at a speed she hadn’t thought possible, Homura barely kept her opponent away from the girls behind her. Sayaka was… sparring? That was absolutely a sword fight she was having with the other girl. Mop in one hand and fist clenched as she kicked off of the wall behind her and delivered a spinning kick, forcing her opponent into a hedge. And in the middle of the mess was Madoka. She looked terrified and was clutching Kyubey to her chest.

_ “Don’t worry Kaname-san. Leave it to us!” _

Madoka looked over at her and her expression changed to one of relief.  _ “Oh Mami-san! Thank goodness you’re okay. You can um, you can win! I believe in you.” _

Mami grinned, that was all she needed to hear. She firmly planted both legs, ribbons curling around her and binding her to the ground.

Then the battle changed. The girl with the sword appeared in front of Sayaka and brought her blade down across her face. Simultaneously, the clawed girl was tossed back by an explosion. She tumbled backwards, ending up sprawled face first as she skidded to a stop. Shakily their foe pushed herself upwards, and was hit square in the face by the bat, sending her reeling with a spray of blood.

Homura’s voice rang out in her mind.  _ “Now.” _

Mami reacted on instinct, as if Homura had given her the same instruction many times before. Ribbons sprang up around the clawed girl and bound her tight. A lock materializing as her back slammed against the concrete. But that wasn’t enough. Her accomplice had hurt one of her kouhai and she would not let that stand. A gigantic musket materializing in her arms she took aim. As she bellowed her war cry, she didn’t hear Homura’s warning.

\---

Homura couldn’t keep up with this girl. She was almost a blur of blackness as she darted around, dodging bullets as she went. Though she wasn’t quite as fast as before. Homura had managed to get at least one shot off at some vital place, likely through the ankle. And that was all the edge she needed. This menace was not going to hurt her Madoka. Not now, not ever. She feinted to the side and the girl moved just as she’d predicted. Dodging a spray of bullets… but taking the bat directly in the stomach. 

Homura wasn’t used to melee combat but a bat wasn’t too far off a golf club, just a bit heavier. For a quick second she risked freezing time to detonate a grenade. Behind her she heard the swordswoman move in that frozen second. She unfroze time immediately as she released the bat at her downed opponent. However, the moment before it could hit the other girl, time froze yet again. Homura turned to see the swordswoman sprinting past her and- Oh no. Oh god no.

“TIRO FINALE!”

“MAMI NO!”

Time slowed. Or maybe that was just how it felt to Homura. The swordswoman dived past her, turning in mid air to wink at her, and landed in front of her ally. As Mami’s attack hurtled at them she planted her feet and pulled up her shield. Homura reached for her own shield but she was too slow. She felt as if all her muscles were fighting against her as her hand finally made contact with her shield. But by then it was too late.

The instant before the blast made contact their opponent twirled around and slammed her shield forward. Mami’s final attack, her devastating Tiro Finale, struck the shield and froze in place. The energy sliding the girl back as it shook the entire room around them. Then with a thunderous boom she slammed her sword into the shield and the attack was reversed. Flying right back at an alarming speed. Mami managed to just barely dodge the blow as it crackled past, setting her hair on end, before it hit its true target.

The artificial sun above her finally gave way as the redirected attack seared through the final remaining support beams. Sending the witch’s structure crashing down to the ground. And directly on top of Tomoe Mami.

In the last agonizing second before the structure hit her the two magical girls locked eyes. The shock evident on her face but beyond that, pure and utter fear. Soundlessly she mouthed out three words.

“Not like this.”

And then she was gone.

\---

Oh god. This was not supposed to happen. This was not supposed to happen at all. Eyes wide she sprinted over and grabbed Kirika by the collar. She was still conscious but wasn’t in good shape, having taken many more hits than she was letting show. They could not be here much longer.

_ “Kirika-senpai. We need to go.” _

Kirika looked up at her, eyes wide.  _ “What? No! We can take out Kaname Madoka right here, right now!” _

Kiori was already hoisting her over one shoulder.  _ “The monster’s sorcery will not stand for much longer, we must abscond. Now.” _

As the vines started to vanish around them she tossed her namesake through the nearest entrance. She took a final moment to survey their prey. The pair hadn’t been able to take them out but Kiori had never expected them to… Or honestly wanted to. If there was a way to... She was following Mother’s orders. She was a good soldier, she owed her so much. She could do this. She HAD to do this. And if the savior who gave her purpose required her to take a life. Well. Kiori would do what she could.

“We… Will be back.”

They’d gotten the information they had needed, it was time to leave. Shame filled her as she avoided Akemi’s gaze. She couldn’t look into those eyes again, not after what she’d done. Pulling her hood down further she ran away, a single tear rolling down her face.

\---

“Kaname Madoka, are you okay?” The instant the pair were out of sight Homura moved. She pulled Madoka into her arms, frantically checking her over for any harm.

Sayaka let out a shaky laugh. “Wh-what about me huh? I’m the one who fought that girl off.”

Madoka let out a weak smile for a moment before her eyes widened. “W-Where’s Mami-san?”

The labyrinth faded to reality, revealing a crumpled heap in front of the trio. The wreckage had disappeared alongside the witch, leaving the poor girl behind. She was hurt badly, Homura could tell even from a distance. And for a moment Homura felt that familiar guilt she tried so hard to bury. The feeling of losing one of her friends yet again. But then she moved. In an instant Homura was beside her, reaching into her shield. She’d been running low on grief seeds and had only managed to stockpile about seven since she’d arrived in this version of Mitakihara, and that only left the few she had on hand. She’d been hoping to keep them in reserve but she had made a promise to Haruka. And seeing Mami in such pain… For so long now when Homura looked at Mami all she could see was that girl, tears in her eyes, with a gun pointed directly at her. But that image was dashed as she held the girl she had once called a dear friend in her arms. And she couldn’t let her hurt like this. She wouldn’t.

She shoved first one and then two more grief seeds up against her soul. Homura hadn’t been religious in so very many years but in this moment she instinctively let out a prayer. Slowly, ever so slowly, the golden colour in the gem started to overcome the swirling tempest of darkness, but only about a third of it remained clean. Frantically tossing the seeds to one side she lifted Mami into a bridal carry.

A voice piped up from behind her, no doubt having beelined directly to the discarded witch eggs.  _ “Madoka! If you contract you can ease her pain, you can make her heal-” _ But Homura wasn’t having it.

In a smooth motion she unloaded an entire clip into the little bastard’s face, not even caring about their audience.

Madoka screamed and Sayaka looked ill. 

“H-Hey! What the hell are you doing?”

“Kyubey! No!!!”

Homura scoffed. “It will take more than that to keep him down. Listen closely. There is no need to make a contract. Tomoe Mami will survive, you have my word.”

Momentarily forgetting about the incubator, both girls moved towards her. Madoka reached out to hold one of Mami’s hands while Sayaka checked her pulse. “Oh Homura-chan! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You promise?” Sayaka let out in a choked sob.

“I swear my soul on it.” And with a flick of her wrist, she was gone.

\---

Madoka was still crying when they made it out of the mall. Sayaka sat her down on a bench where people didn’t often come past to get them some privacy to recover and talk. She reached into her bag and pulled out a handkerchief. Madoka wasn’t sure where she had gotten it, but assumed it had belonged to Kamijou-kun. Sayaka gently dabbed at her eyes before holding her close and gently shushing her.

“It’s gonna be okay Madoka, the transfer student told us so remember.”

Madoka hiccupped, refusing to move from the safety of Sayaka’s arms. Homura, Mami, and Kyubey had all vanished, leaving behind only a single piece of paper. On it had been an address and a note telling whoever read it to meet her at that address, signed Akemi Homura. However Sayaka said it was getting late and Madoka was having trouble walking straight.

“B-But what if Mami doesn’t make it?”

“She will.”

“How are you so sure?”

Sayaka pulled back at that, unused to the force in Madoka’s voice. Reaching up absently to scratch her cheek in thought before remembering the gash there and crossing her arms instead.

“Well, she had this kinda look about her. Like she was about to do the most important thing ever, and she kept  _ us _ safe in there so yeah. I trust her. She can be grumpy and a stick in the mud but I think I trust her!”

“She.. hurt Kyubey”

Sayaka looked away at that. “Yeah but she said he’d be okay right? We can make her apologise to him when Mami’s around. We can all tell her off together.”

Madoka had stopped crying by now, and Sayaka reached in once more to dab at her eyes as she sat down next to her.

“Hey, Madoka… After all of this, I think Haruka was right. We shouldn’t make wishes.”

“Oh, really? What made you decide?”

“Not sure really I just. I wasn’t expecting so much hurting. I thought she was exaggerating and it’d be helping people in need and taking down monsters. Not, not like what happened. And I mean the transfer student wasn’t lying or anything, neither was Mami-san. But it just feels different. You know what I mean?”

“I think so.”

“Seriously. I considered so many different things too. I mean, there are plenty of things I want to have or do, but…”

Sayaka sighed, shifting position to rest her head in Madoka’s lap.

“...I guess the whole “risking your life for it” part is more than we both expected huh. None of the stuff I want is worth that much.”

“Yeah…”

_ “How odd. Most of the girls I make my offer to accept right away.” _ A familiar voice echoed. Sayaka started and rolled over to see Kyubey waiting in front of the pair, his head tilted in question. Madoka smiled, she still wished Homura hadn’t hurt the fuzzy creature but she was glad that she was telling the truth. He was okay after all!

“Glad to see you’re still around. Though maybe the pair of us are just fools?”

Madoka started to stroke her hair. “Huh? You think so?”

Sayaka grinned up at her, emphasizing her first word. “Yep. A pair of blissfully ignorant fools… I’m sure it’s not all that unusual. Wishing for something so strongly that you would trade your life for it.”

She got up then, starting to pace around Kyubey who had curled up on the concrete in front of Madoka.

“There must be countless people in this world who have such wishes in their hearts. Most likely it means the two of us, who can’t even figure out what to wish for, haven’t experienced even a fraction of those people’s suffering. Imagine what Mami-san must have wished for to be willing to fight like that? Or… Homura.” Sayaka stammered a bit at saying the transfer student’s first name before continuing.

“We’ve been so blessed… that we’ve become ignorant fools. I just want to know why us, of all people? Doesn’t it seem unfair? There are probably people who would give anything for a chance like this. But to fight other girls? To get… To get hurt so much? I don’t know.”

She spun on the spot once, then twice, then a third time before coming to a stop, finger pointed at Madoka. “So let’s trust her on this. She’ll get Mami better and we just need to not make a contract. Even if we could be helping others, I’ll take that risk if it means Mami can be out there saving innocent lives from those evil people sooner.”

Madoka let out a beaming smile and hugged her friend. “Okay!”

As they collected their bags, a question popped into Madoka’s head. “I wonder… Do all fights go like that? With other girls jumping in and the Witches running away?”

Sayaka chuckled. “Nah, it can’t be. You saw how they were before those other girls showed up! They were hitting those things like it was easy. Heck, even we kinda were. What, do you think a Witch could throw someone like Mami-san around so easily?”

\---

At that very moment Sakura Kyoko was being thrown around by a Witch.

“Damn! That’s one stupid-looking face you got.” She quipped as she skidded to a stop, throwing up a barrier as she readied herself for the next strike. The Witch was shaped like a skull with a long tongue that loved to tug her about. It’s eyes also attacked with its own sort of tongues and even the goddamn hair was whipping her. This thing just didn’t know how to fight fair. She’d gotten through its outer shell and the bastard had sent her a note. “Not this time!”

Kyoko had fought a lot of witches in her time as a magical girl but not once had one been able to taunt her in Japanese. Weird Witch speak? Sure. But criticism in a language she could read? Now that just wasn’t going to fly. It took a few more hits to actually get the thing down. It was smart and so were its familiars, and Kyoko made a mental note that if she ever encountered more of them she’d take them down before they could make another one of these things. Fighting this Witch was more effort than it was worth. She saw an opening and struck, lifting the creature up by her spear as she started to gloat.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had to work this hard. That’s a compliment. Although I’m sure you’re not going to take any pride in it.” Oh well, she might as well deal with the thing before she fixed a snack for her and Yuma. She’d only met the kid a few days ago but if anything happened to her she’d kill every last Witch in Kazamino before going over to Mitakihara to kick Mami’s ass just for the spirit of it. After learning what her mother had done to her… well, it was a shame that a Witch had gotten to her first. She’d taken out her anger on some of the surrounding familiars instead. No matter how glad she was that woman was gone, it’d still scarred poor Yuma and she was going to keep her as far away from the monsters as she could. She drove her spear clean through the skull in a single motion, almost effortlessly. The creature’s blood sprayed across her... and everything went red.

In an instant Kyoko was falling as her whole body went numb. And then agonizing pain filled the void. The bastard had managed to transform and grab her. And now it was lunging down at her. She tried to move but she couldn’t. In horror she looked down to see stumps where both her arms and legs were. She was completely and utterly unable to fight back now. The Witch wrapped its tongue around her, lifting her into the air. She couldn’t do anything. The tongue tightened and she felt something snap. She was going to die cold and alone and she’d never see Yuma or Ma-

Simultaneously two things happened. First, the Witch stumbled back. But more importantly, the pain suddenly ceased. Kyoko could FEEL again. Her legs, her arms, the spear she was now clutching. And she was going to make sure that witch felt it too. A scream tearing out of her she sprang into the air. For a second she could swear there were two of her, and then she was driving the spear into the Witch as many times as she could. Finally, she landed on her feet, panting heavily.

She’d narrowly escaped death, but… how? That wasn’t the kind of damage she could have usually overcome on her own. She’d lost an arm before and that’d taken multiple grief seeds and a three day binge on any food she could eat to grow it back. Heh, maybe some goddess of victory was on her side. She muttered it outloud without thinking, transforming back and stretching her newly regained limbs, rolling up her sleeves to look for any sign they’d been gone in the first place.

“No, that’s right.”

She turned in horror at that voice, seeing her worst nightmare. Standing in front of her, soul gem on full display, was Chitose Yuma. She staggered forwards towards the girl, ready to smack her for pulling such a careless move. For dooming herself to such a miserable life! Kyoko was supposed to be helping her, and she’d ruined her just like she ruined-

But she didn’t have time to finish that thought. Yuma had grabbed ahold of her and was frantically tugging her forward with urgency in her voice. “Quickly Kyoko! We need to help her!”

“Eh? Help who? Slow down!”

“There’s no time! The mean lady tried to hurt me and she’s fighting her now-”

Kyoko was back in her magical outfit the instant those words crossed Yuma’s lips.

“Who tried to hurt you? Where are they? And how can I make them pay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Quite a lot here huh. The obvious bait may have been a sign that I wasn’t going to kill off Mami but she did go through it quite a bit this chapter anyway, kind of reflecting what happens to Kyoko (which is from Oriko Magica so blame the writers for that one). But now we’ve got Yuma on board!
> 
> Next time, the huntsman deals with the wolf and Kyoko (begrudgingly) learns about the spirit of teamwork.


	8. “Me? Why Sakura-san, I’m your enemy.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oriko bites off more than she can chew and Kyoko sits through a sales pitch. Fun is had by all.

“I must say, I wasn’t expecting any guests. Would you care to tell me why you are here?”

Haruka stumbled backwards as a crystal ball slammed into her stomach. Another volley hurtled towards her she dived to the side, the projectiles shattering against the wall behind her.

“No thanks. I value my air of mystery, Mikuni-san.” She deflected the next series of attacks by quickly summoning a barrier in front of her.

“Ah, but you do know who I am. And considering I do not know you… That makes you quite the anomaly.”

Haruka forced the barrier forwards, shoving Oriko over the hotel room’s bed.

**_“You hesitate. Why?”_ **

_“Oh so you’ve decided to come back huh? Well now is not the time. Shut up.”_ She shot back at The Voice, drawing back on her staff and firing off three arrows in rapid succession at her foe. Oriko swept up the mattress to block the blows.

**_“You waste your immense potential. I have told you time and time again my friend, holding yourself back will only lead to bloodshed and heartbreak.”_ **

_“I said. Shut. Up!”_ Distracted by her internal argument, Haruka let the next shot go wide. Oriko sidestepped the arrow, catching it in one hand and tossing it right back at her. The returned arrow lodging itself in her arm. She quickly waved a hand over it to disperse the arrow back into magic but it still left a nasty cut behind. She’d been winning against Oriko at first, but that Voice had gotten louder and louder and she was starting to make careless mistakes. She felt like she’d be bruising all over come morning and she might actually need stitches in a few places. Which was saying something considering the whole magic thing.

_“Well this is quite curious.”_ The voice this time was different, and for a second Haruka was grateful. Then she realised who this voice belonged to. Kyubey sat next to the remains of his other self, licking his lips self-satisfactorily. _“I have a few questions I’d like to ask the both of you, if you have time to spare?”_

“Not now!” Both girls responded in unison, readying their next attacks. 

_“The pair of you have been avoiding me recently, and many of my new contractees have begun disappearing. Was that your work?”_

Oriko unleashed another barrage. “This is simply a coincidence Kyubey, I have been busy tracking down a certain witch. Some collateral damage is inevitable wouldn’t you say?”

Haruka used a blast of illusory magic, flash-stepping through the oncoming attacks. “You expect him to believe that?”

“I am simply telling him the truth, from my point of view.”

“And how does that make you any better than the Witches you hunt?”

“Threatening my ideals will do you no good, I know the way my path leads, I have seen it! But I wonder... Where did yours begin?”

_“Good question Oriko! There are three new girls who have entered Mitakihara that I have no memories of contracting. I just want to know what has caused this sudden upheaval. It would be a shame to have to inform your fellow Mahou Shoujo of all the unrest.”_

“Blackmail Kyubey? How unoriginal.”

“You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that!”

Another round of orbs started spinning around Oriko. If she let them build up enough speed they’d be a pain to deal with. Haruka quickly fired off two arrows. The first went wide, but that was the plan. The second lodged itself through Oriko’s palm, causing her to stop her incoming attack, crystal balls from the air around her. Haruka tried to take advantage of the opening but The Voice interrupted again.

**_“I’m sorry my dear friend, but we cannot wait much longer.”_ **

There was a flash of light as something shot from her hands, shoving both Oriko and Haruka to separate sides of the room.

“W-What the hell was that?” Haruka blurted out, looking at her hands in shock.

**_“You resist me still. Please_ _k_ _now that I am doing this for your own good.”_ **

Haruka struggled back to her feet, drawing the magical energy through her staff once more. And at that moment their door swung open, revealing Sakura Kyoko.

“Sakura-san! You need to go save-”

Chitose Yuma peaked out from behind her, dressed in magical attire. She had failed. She’d failed she’d failed she-

**_“Let go.”_ **

She let go. And the room exploded.

\---

Freedom at long last. The huntsman was suspended in mid-air as he revelled in his power. The energy flowed through him and he snapped up a barrier around the child. The wolf would not take her on this day, nor any other. 

“What the hell?! Let Yuma go!” Her grandmother let out a cry and charged at the huntsman. Now that wouldn’t do at all.

 _“ **You needn’t fear, I have come to rescue you both. Rejoice!** ”_ A bolt of his power took the aged woman directly in the chest, sending her to the floor. It wouldn’t be proper for her to intervene, this was not her fated role.

His feet once again planted on solid ground the huntsman stalked towards his prey. The beast summoned its foul sorcery, with a desperate cry. “O-Oracle Ray!”

But it was a pathetic display. The huntsman steadied one hand on his axe, spinning the weapon to deflect the blast off to the side with ease. He brought his other hand down against the beast, curled into a powerful fist. The wolf reared back, it’s hands clutching at its broken muzzle in a spray of blood.

 _ **“Leaving your kin behind was an act of great folly. To leave yourself defenceless was the height of arrogance. Where is your fellow wolf?”**_ The huntsman lifted the beast by its throat, energy sparking off her in waves.

“S-She is acting out my will. By the time I return they...” Its breath came in short gasps, furiously throwing its orbs of light at the huntsman. But the huntsman was prepared and parried every blow without breaking eye contact once.

**_“They? So the child born of ash has returned to your service once more. Oh wicked stepmother you do not know the power at your disposal.”_ **

“You underestimate-” Its breaths were even shallower now, the acts coming at a blinding speed.

_**“You raise a good point. Perhaps I should gut you right here, right now!”** _

The huntsman slammed the beast against the wall, readying his axe and-

\---

A flash of white. Suddenly Haruka stood in darkness, the only light dimly flickering in the distance. She struggled to her feet, moving slow step after slow step. It was as if she was pushing her way through water instead of air, every movement sluggish and weighed down. Finally she reached the light, it was spilling out through a door of carved wood. It was garishly decorated with a splattering of red and yellow paint, and near the top was a single word alongside the image of a doll. Haruka traced the name as another hand covered hers. 

She looked up sharply to see Mami, but she didn’t react to Haruka’s presence, looking back at Madoka for reassurance. 

“Mami! There’s trouble! The Grief Seed is beginning to move” A voice boomed through the darkness, shockwaves cracking the void and letting more and more light leak in. The force of it shoved Haruka to her knees as she struggled to remain conscious. 

“It’s going to hatch soon! Hurry!” That had to be Sayaka. Had something gone wrong with the plan? Where was Homura?

“Right. Got it.” In a flash of shining ribbons Mami’s outfit changed into that oh so familiar Magical get-up, rifle snapping into position in her hands. “That means there’s no need for sneaking around, right!? Let’s go, Kaname-san!”

She opened the door. And for an instant Haruka got a clear view of her surroundings. And then the world fell apart.

\---

The unbearable weight pinning her to the ground finally gave way. Kyoko instantly leapt to her feet as she summoned another spear. Across the room that weird glowing girl slumped over to the side, dropping her staff as she collapsed in a heap. The girl she’d been fighting staggered backwards, gasping for air as she cradled her head in her hands. Right, she looked conscious enough. 

“I have absolutely no idea what that was but I want answers. Who the hell are you and why are you in my place?” Kyoko pointed her spear at the bloodied magical girl, sneering menacingly. To be fair it wasn’t actually _her_ place. Kyoko had gotten very good at claiming others territory as her own, so a ‘borrowed’ hotel room would be no exception.

“Me? Why Sakura-san, I’m your enemy.” Her foe pulled her hat from her head in a sweeping bow, stepping backwards out of the shattered window.

Kyoko ran forward, trying to get at the girl before she could escape. But in her haste she didn’t hear the girl’s last words echoing as she fell into the dark of the night. A blast of magic hurtled directly towards Kyoko’s soul gem…

And was dispersed. A black lattice barrier covered in pink roses materialised in front of her at the last second, saving her life. Kyoko spun around to see the other girl shakily making her way over, one hand outstretched.

“C-Come on Sakura-san. No use fighting a losing battle if you can’t leave a mark, remember?”

Before she could do anything else Yuma had rushed over to her and was waving her staff around, the wounds on the unknown magical girl closing with a flash of green light.

Kyoko wanted to interrogate her right there, but she could hear voices coming up the hallway.

“Looks like we’ve been made. You. Help us grab our stuff, we gotta get out of here.”

\---

"B-But. I swear that we heard- " The poor hotel receptionist stammered, ringing his hands as he looked around the room.

“Sir, In the future we’d appreciate it if you didn’t call us out to handle a situation without actually verifying there is one.” The window shut as the police officers finished their inspection, continuing their lecture to the hotel staff. On a nearby rooftop Kyoko looked on with interest through a pair of binoculars.

“So, how’d ya do it? Fix up the room like that?”

The newcomer chuckled softly, groaning a little and clutching at a growing bruise on her stomach. “Oh that? A few psychic suggestions and a little Fascination goes a long way.”

Kyoko’s eyes widened for a second before she forced herself to act like it wasn’t a big deal. “Oh? So that’s your power. Lotsa tricks and flashy lights?”

The girl shook her head. “Not really, I’ve never been that good with Fascination, visual stuff I can do but not really the whole manifesting side. I can Enchant and Summon pretty good though, so I think I _could_ do it. I just need to figure out the combination. Either way it’ll bought us enough time.”

Kyoko almost bit her tongue in surprise. “You can do all that? You must have made one hell of a wish.”

 _“I’d like to know as well.”_ Came Kyubey’s voice, his red eyes glowing from on top of a nearby radio tower. A quick arrow from the girl and the eyes vanished from sight.

Their guest grinned, standing back up. “Me? Well that’s just going to have to remain a secret. I’ve got a strict policy of never giving private information to any strange bunnycats without my parent’s permission. Same applies to fellow Magical Girls actually. At least, not without an introduction first.”

She hobbled over to Kyoko, holding out a pack of Pocky. “Kaname Haruka, I’m new in town.”

“Tch. Sakura Kyoko. Thanks.” She grabbed the pack, placing a stick in her mouth before sliding her hands back into her pockets. “This place is my territory and I’m not known for welcoming guests.”

“I’d heard as much. I came here in pursuit of Mikuni Oriko.” 

“The one in the stupid looking hat?”

“Precisely. She’s been targeting friends of mine, but recently she’s had a… different target.” Her voice trailed off at that, moving to kneel in front of Yuma.

“Chitose-san. I am so sorry.”

Yuma looked confused. “Um. Why?”

“I meant to save you, to keep you from making a contract. But I didn’t expect Mikuni-san to try and hurt you and… I wasn’t strong enough.”

Yuma pulled the girl into a hug, looking over Haruka’s shoulder at Kyoko with determination in her eyes. “You’re wrong! I changed myself for Kyoko’s sake! I couldn’t let her d-die. I was sick of not being able to do anything! So I chose to fight for Kyoko… and for myself.”

Kyoko scoffed, tapping her on the head with the pack of Pocky. “Dummy. Becoming a Magical Girl for the sake of somebody else… Nothing good can come of that.” 

Yuma was shaking now. “B-But Kyoko. I. I can be useful now. Please don’t leave me behind. I'm sorry!”

Kyoko crouched in front of the pair. “Listen to me Yuma. Just cause you weren’t a magical girl doesn’t mean you’re useless. And sure, I didn’t want you to make the deal with that bastard but it doesn’t mean I’m gonna leave you. We’re a team now and as long as I’m around you’re free to stay with me. Understand?”

“Thank you Kyoko-nee!!!” Yuma was still sobbing but now there was a smile too. Kyoko hadn’t seen anyone look like that since... Well. Since that time Momo broke her doll and Kyoko had promised to fix it for her. She’d never gotten the change, It’d been lost in the fire the next day. Kyoko wasn’t crying. Some bug had flown into her face and it was making her eyes water, she absolutely was not- 

Haruka grabbed a hold of her hoodie and tugged, and suddenly there were two separate arms wrapping around her. Kyoko sank into the hug like it was the only lifeboat in a vast and cruel ocean. For a time the trio sat there, quiet and content. Then Kyoko stood up, brushing at her eyes with one hand and absolutely blushing. To cover her embarrassment she held the Pocky out to Haruka.

“We’ll share these then. I hate to say it but I owe you one Haruka. Without you Yuma would be… Well. Thanks for lookin' out for her.”

Accepting it gracefully, Haruka grinned. “No problem Kyoko-chan. You can trust me to keep an eye on Chibishi here any time.”

Kyoko chucked at the name, Little Doctor was an accurate nickname. Yuma seemed less pleased about the name however.

“Hey! I’m not that little!” She pouted and whacked Haruka with her staff.

Haruka wiped away her tears, pushing the pillow away and ruffling Yuma’s hair. “You are to me Doc. You are to me.”

“Now. I’m sure you have a lot of questions. But I need to know what happened while I was fighting Mikuni-san.”

Yuma leapt up and started dramatically re-enacting the fight between Kyoko and that witch. Kyoko would occasionally chip in to correct details or add things Yuma hadn’t seen. When she mentioned the crazy skull dropping a note in Japanese Haruka’s eyes went wide.

“Do you have her Grief Seed?”

Kyoko slid the item in question out of her hoodie pocket. “Yup. Why?”

“A Witch communicating in Japanese… Can I have her?”

“Sorry pal but I beat her. Therefore the seed belongs to me. That's just how this goes.” Kyoko spun the little egg around in the palm of her hand.

“What about a trade?”

Kyoko’s ears perked up at that. “Well… What do you have to offer?”

“How about a two for one deal? I’ll give you Patricia and Izabel? They should each be good for quite a few uses, powerful witches. Absolute pain in the ass to fight, I’ll tell you that much.” Haruka reached over and pulled a duffel bag towards her, rummaging around for a few moments before bringing out two Grief Seeds of her own.

Kyoko blinked. “You named them?”

Haruka looked at her in confusion. “Uh, no? That’s just their names. Why don’t you- Ah. Right, I forgot. So you know all that weird writing that shows up around witches?”

“Uh. Yeah?”

“It’s a sorta psychic connection thingy, it’s how witches communicate. Something about our magic lets us pick it up but most of us still can’t understand it. But since psychic connections happen to be my speciality I figured it out.”

Kyoko snatched up the two Grief Seeds on offer and left the unknown witch’s one on her palm. “Alright then, what’s this one called?”

Haruka’s eyes flashed white again for a moment before settling back into their usual pink, her pupils still extremely wide as the Grief Seed floated up and balanced itself on her palm.

“Hmmm… It’s harder to do from the seed alone but I believe her name is Cecil.” She traced along the artefact in her hand, tracing down the rosary beads and along the carvings of cherry petals. “She’s the witch of taste, with a domain of elegance. Now why would she be able to communicate…” 

She placed one hand against Kyoko’s arm, holding direct eye contact. The light started to flicker into her eyes again, as if they were sparks trying to kindle a fire. “Drawn to the music of your soul? No, it is the music you march towards that she seeks... _Another’s eternal concert? How would that grant our language to one of the fal **len** -_” She moved closer and closer, her voice deepening in pitch and seeming to shake the air around her.

Kyoko felt a presence in her head. As if someone was knocking, asking to come in. She jerked backwards and suddenly the feeling was gone. Haruka blinked furiously, her eyes returning to normal. The Grief Seed started to glow and she frantically shoved it into her back, zipping it up and sliding a lock into place.

“Ah. Sorry about that. I can get carried away sometimes. But this is quite the mystery, I’ll see what I can figure out. Might be a way to actually communicate back to them after all.”

Yuma perked up at that. “Oh! Then she can apologise for hurting Kyoko-nee!”

Haruka grinned. “Precisely! That is an excellent idea. I’ll let you know once we get back.”

“Get back where?”

Haruka’s grin became much more sheepish. “Ah I almost forgot to ask. Sakura Kyoko, Chitose Yuma, I would like the pair of you to accompany me to Mitakiha-”

“Nope.”

“H-Huh?”

“Not happening. If you think I’m gonna take the kid anywhere near Tomoe Mami without an extremely good reason then you got hit harder than you think.”

Haruka went silent for a few moments, before that smug smile made its return. “Let me give you three reasons why you should. You disagree with them and I’ll get you both dinner and get out of your hair for good.”

Now THAT sounded like a good deal to her! Kyoko’s stomach rumbled as she nodded her assent.

With a snap of Haruka’s fingers she reached up and pulled down a projector screen out of thin air. Then she summoned her staff and slid her glasses up from their position balancing on the tip of her nose.

“Reason one! Revenge” she emphasised the point by whacking the projector with her staff, making the illusion go fuzzy for a few moments. Kyoko had to admit she was starting off strong with that one. An opinion she took back immediately when the image solidified. On the screen appeared two very crudely drawn stick figures. The first with big frizzy red hair and the other was much smaller and had cat ears.

“What am I even looking at? Is that a clown?”

“Hush! Kyoko-nee you’ll interrupt the show!”

Haruka waved her staff another time and text appeared, labelling Kyoko and Yuma. Another figure appeared on screen too, this time in a big poofy dress and a hat that covered at least half the screen. The words REVENGE!!! And VILLAIN!!! Appearing as the Kyoko drawing threw a spear into the Oriko drawing.

“Mikuni Oriko currently lives in Mitakihara, she came here to take down Yuma as she saw her as a threat to her ‘mission’.”

“What kind of mission?”

“She’s targeting a girl with incredible potential, Mami-senpai has taken her under her wing for now but she must have seen Yuma helping her somehow and decided to confront her. Mikuni-san’s wish grants her visions of potential futures.”

Kyoko pulled some more snacks from her supplies, taking a few moments to think on this. “Alright. I do want revenge, she came into my territory and hurt someone in my care. But I couldn’t care less about whatever Mami’s newest mark is involved in.”

Haruka changed the illusion, the various lines rearranging to form a witch above a burning building. “My second point. The colossal super-dreadful Witch herself!”

Kyoko blanched. “Wait. You mean Walpurgisnacht?!”

“Yup!” Text appeared around the drawing. “She’s on her way to Mitakihara and if she stops in there then it's likely she’ll carry on to Kazamino.”

“Wall what?” Yuma looked between the pair in confusion.

“Big Witch. When humans see her they think it’s some kind of storm. How long have we got 'til she arrives?”

Haruka a flip-phone out of her pocket and glanced at it. “Well if this thing is set up right, we’ve got roughly a month. Maybe a bit longer, maybe a bit shorter.”

Kyoko grimaced. “Welp, thanks for the heads up pal. Revenge is good and all but I’m not fighting a hurricane. The kid and I are gonna head on out, go for a vacation. I hear Hokkaido is lovely this time of year.”

“W-Wait! That’s why I have a third reason!” Haruka frantically waved her hands as the screen shifted one more time. 

The figure of Walpurgisnacht reformed into an odd looking sculpture. A mix of purples and blacks, the statue resembled a dead and gnarled tree. On its top was the figure from the bottom of Walpurgisnacht.

“Okay… What are we looking at?”

“My sources call it the Trauerbaum. It’s Walpurgisnacht’s Grief Seed. It’s got enough energy to keep an entire town of magical girls powered up for YEARS. All you have to do is fight one Witch and then you get the equivalent of a hundred Grief Seeds!”

Kyoko whistled, impressed. “I didn’t think it even had one. Who told you about this?”

Haruka went dead silent at that. She stood there, staring off into the distance for a few minutes before quietly saying, “an old friend.”

“That friend of yours got a name?”

“...She goes by Ophelia now.”

“Well I’ve never heard of her. But. If you’re sure about this whole Grief Tree thing then I’ll give it a shot.”

“R-Really?”

“Course I will. Infinite magic, stress free? Sounds like a bargain to me. Besides it’d make things easier on Yuma.” Kyoko went a little red as she said the last part. “But if things go wrong we have full rights to run.”

“No.”

The two turned to look at Yuma who stood with clenched fists at her sides.

“No?”

“No! We’re Magical Girls, that Witch could hurt lots of people. It could hurt you Kyoko-nee…”

Kyoko ruffled Yuma’s hair, slinging some of their possessions over her shoulder. “Don’t worry about me, as long as you’re around there’s no way we’ll be outmatched. We’ll take that thing down together… And I suppose we’ll have backup in Mami-san. There’s no way we can avoid her during this, is there?”

“Not in the slightest. If you try she’ll come knocking.”

Yuma interrupted the two, looking between them in confusion. “Who’s Mami-san?”

“Yeah she’s uh. An ‘old friend’ I guess. Her cooking is great, we’ll make her bake some peach pie for us.”

“Yay!!!” Yuma let out a big yawn mid cheer.

“Looks like it’s time for you to get some rest kiddo.” Kyoko picked the girl up with her other hand, magic strength sure was handy. “You wanna come with?”

Haruka shook her head. “I’d love to talk more but I’ve got to get back and prepare. I think I know who Oriko is targeting next and I need to reach her first.”

Kyoko cocked her head. “Your track record for stopping this kinda stuff isn’t the greatest.”

Haruka gave a sad grin, walking to the rooftops edge and bracing herself. “Yeah. But this time I won’t go alone.” She glanced over at Yuma, who had fallen asleep in Kyoko’s arms. “Changing for yourself huh? I’ll keep that in mind.”

And then she was gone.

Kyubey poked his head around the corner as Haruka disappeared from sight. _“Well. That was very interesting indeed.”_

“Was she telling the truth? Is Walpurgis on it’s way here?”

Kyubey nodded. _“Indeed. I am unsure how accurate her countdown is but the Witch is indeed on a path to Mitakihara. I shall come and visit as well, there is still much I have to learn.”_

Kyoko summoned her Soul Gem. Even though she’d cleaned it after the fight with Cecil it’d still been pretty cloudy. Letting it float in front of her she gave it a once over… And saw only red light. It was completely clean. Puzzled, Kyoko let the Gem float back onto her hand. Oh well, she’d figure that out tomorrow.

“Come on then, let’s find a place to sleep. Then I’m taking Yuma on a trip.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this one a little early again! I was going to wait but I just had to say that I'm so immensely honoured to have so many hits and kudos and comments and just. Wow! Its a lot of fun to write this story and I'm so glad people are enjoying the ride! More and more mysteries are starting to build up here. Hopefully not too many! Answers will come in good time but for now we'll head back to Mitakihara. Time to see how poor Mami is holding up.
> 
> P.S. If anyone wants to see Haruka's Amazing Sales Pitch, I did a quick drawing of it. I've posted it to twitter and tumblr, but I'll just throw the twitter link here:  
> https://twitter.com/Umbreix/status/1360048142410862596?s=20


	9. “Why exactly is Shizuki Hitomi in my kitchen?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls stop by Homura's house to check in on Mami. They bring a guest.

Bebebebeep! Bebebebeep!

Madoka threw her hand out in the direction of the noise, landing on her alarm with a click. She took in her surroundings through bleary eyes. The light filtered through her curtains to reveal… her room. Her normal everyday room. She hugged Toreho-kun closer, resting her head sleepily against the stuffed bunny. 

“Another weird dream?” She sighed and turned to tuck Toreho-kun back into bed. And froze. _“Good morning, Madoka!”_ Kyubey waved a paw in greeting, perched amongst her collection of stuffed toys.

“Waah?! H-Hi. Good morning Kyubey?” She asked in confusion. She was still awake right? That meant… “It was all real?”

Kyubey hopped down from his perch, moving to lay down by her side. _“Yep! Everything, including my offer to grant you any wish you desire!”_ He laid down, head against one of her legs as he closed his eyes. Madoka started absentmindedly petting him as she reminisced about the day prior.

She’d been trapped in a crazy chain of events ever since that really weird dream with Homura-chan- Oh gosh she’d called her Homura-chan. She hadn’t even asked if she could use her first name. Was she being too familiar? She didn’t correct her though… So maybe it was okay! Besides, Homura was such a cool name and it fit such a pretty girl. Even so, it wasn’t like her to be so familiar with a girl she’d just met. That was more Sayaka’s thing. Madoka could already imagine her voice teasing her.

“You two are, you know, two whom fate has bound together in a previous life… A mystery of the universe!” Now thoroughly flustered, Madoka rearranged her pillows so that Toreho-kun could be sitting comfortably.

“Um, Kyubey?”

_“Hm? Ready to share your wish yet, Madoka?”_

“No not that. I um, I think I misplaced my contacts again.”

Kyubey nodded knowingly. _“Ah… Not to worry!”_ With a flick of his tail he pulled a small case from underneath the blankets.

“Thanks Kyubey! You’re very kind.” She smiled down at the creature as she picked him up and got out of bed.

Kyubey smiled up at her. _“Of course Madoka! I’m here to help. Why, soon enough you might forget what your life was like before you met me.”_

\---

“Madoka. I heard you went to sleep early last night. Busy time with the Gardening Club again?”

“No actually… I was out with some girls from my class and an upperclassman.”

Kaname Junko paused her tooth brushing routine to look at Madoka in surprise, before rinsing out her mouth. “Oh? It’s not like you to go out with so many new people all at once. I’m glad to hear it! So, what prompted all this?”

“Well one of the transfer students needed to go to the nurse for her medication-”

“Aah I see, you swooped in to help. I bet Sayaka-chan teased you for that one.”

Madoka groaned. “She did.”

Junko chuckled as she applied her eyeliner. “Atta girl.”

Behind them Kyubey lounged about in a bowl of hot water. _“People really can’t see him… though he sure is making himself at home, huh?”_ Madoka thought to herself. One of Kyubey’s ears flopped over the side as he slid further into the water with a contented smile.

“So these new friends of yours, they’ve got names right?” Junko asked jokingly as she applied her lipstick.

With that question Madoka started thinking about Mami again. She trusted Homura but she was still worried that maybe something had gone wrong. She must have been silent for a bit too long because she was shaken from her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder. Junko had put away her makeup and was now looking at her with concern.

“Something wrong?”

“Well… It’s, um.” Madoka took a deep breath and looked up at her mother. “Say that - just hypothetically… Say that someone you knew was involved in something dangerous.”

“Is one of the new girls a delinquent? Send them my way and I’ll teach them not to mess with my little girl!” Junko spoke with clear exaggeration in her voice, but the look on her face was semi-serious. It was something she often did to break the ice, saying something over dramatic but being fully able to carry it out if needed.

Madoka waved her hands in front of her frantically. “No Mama! Not like that! I mean they help people, but sometimes others can get hurt and they can’t help them. Or they push themselves too far.”

Junko nodded wisely. “Ah, something to do with the nurse then. Well if you ask me I’d say that you should support them from the sidelines if you can.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes in situations like this it can be difficult to see people in harm's way, and while helping them is a wonderful thing to do it can really take a toll on someone. So having a friend to confide in and cheer them up is like magic.”

Madoka perked up at that word. “Magic? Um, while we’re talking hypotheticals, if someone offered to magically grant you any wish in the world. What would you do?”

Junko looked confused at the change in topic, but grinned after a few moments. “I’d have those two trustees driven straight out of the company.”

“Ahh…”

As Junko launched into a discussion of the office and her boss, Madoka smiled to herself. Talking with her mother always made things seem easier to handle. In fact, she got so caught up in the discussion that she completely forgot to ask about Haruka. But she supposed that was okay, she’d just have to make sure to ask the next time she saw her.

\---

The building, Madoka noted, had an old European charm.

The building, Sayaka exclaimed, “looks creepy as hell!”

While Homura’s house was in an older district of Mitakihara, it wasn’t actually too far from where Madoka lived. In fact it was actually closer than both Sayaka’s house and her usual school route. The pair had actually walked past this exact house a few times in the past when visiting Kamijou-kun at the hospital. Joking as they went about what kind of reclusive mad scientist must live there, mostly from Sayaka. Sometimes Madoka would get a bit scared and Sayaka would spin tales about a mysterious prince living there instead, those talks were much nicer.

“And we’re sure that this is where Homura lives? I mean it makes sense she’d live in Castle Dracula of all places but… Are you _really_ sure?”

“Um. Yes? It's the address on the letter.”

“Right. Right. Into the spooky Homu House we go then.” Madoka giggled at Sayaka’s wordplay and raised her hand to the door, but couldn’t bring herself to knock. 

“What if Mami-san is… um, still feeling unwell?”

Sayaka stepped past her, throwing one arm around her friend. “Don’t worry about it Madoka, I’m sure she’s already recovering by now! Look, we can go and check to make sure.”

The instant her fist connected with the door it swung open to reveal Homura in her Magical Girl outfit, silhouetted against a vast white void… and then the door slammed shut again even faster.

“Huh. That was strange.” Hitomi piped up from behind the pair.

\---

They’d been walking to school when Hitomi had somehow gotten involved in the most Hitomi way possible.

“Hey you two… What’s going on? You’ve been staring so intently into one another’s eyes…”

“Huh? Oh, n-no, there’s nothing… going on…” Madoka quickly tried to cover up for the way she and Sayaka were acting. Having learnt that they were able to use telepathy too even without Haruka around was weird but cool! However she could tell she’d said the wrong thing again as Sayaka let out a groan and Hitomi dropped her bag.

“No, don’t tell me- You’re already close enough to communicate through your eyes alone?! Ohh!! But for two people to suddenly get that much closer overnight. What on earth did you do after I left yesterday?!”

Sayaka grimaced. “No, seriously. It totally isn’t what you’re thinking-”

Madoka quickly jumped in to save the conversation as Hitomi started ranting about the two both being girls and forbidden love. “W-Wait Hitomi-chan! We were with Homura-chan after school, that’s all.”

 _“Oh Madoka. You’ve done it now.”_ Sayaka was slowly backing off to the side, putting distance between herself and the conversation.

“THREE OF YOU?! You’ve already- I can’t- On a first name basis- THREE?”

Unable to help herself, Sayaka stopped her attempts to escape and began to dig the hole even deeper. “Don’t forget the part where we helped Mami-san too!”

In an instant Hitomi’s demeanor changed. “Mami-senpai? Is she okay?”

Sayaka blinked, dumbstruck by the sudden shift in tone. “Uh. I mean not really. She went down hard-”

Madoka cut her off before she could say anything else about their Witch encounter. “With the flu! She came to see us in the nurse's office yesterday when we were looking after Homura-chan. We are going to go and check how she’s feeling after class.”

Hitomi clasped her face in both hands, letting out a dramatic gasp. “Oh no! I simply must come along with you. I can bring some nice soup if we stop by my house. It’s on the way after all.”

Sayaka was still confused. “How do you know Mami-san?”

“Oh. Well she’s a family friend! Her mother knew mine, though since the accident we don’t speak all that often anymore.”

“Accident?” Madoka and Sayaka said in unison.

Hitomi bit her lip, clearly thinking it over. “Sorry to you both but it's not my place to say. You’ll have to ask Mami-senpai when we visit. I know where she lives so I can show you the way.”

“Well…. There’s just one problem.”

“Oh? What could that be Madoka-chan?”

“...Mami is staying over at Homura-chan’s house-”

“SHE’S CRADLING HER LOVER BACK TO HEALTH? OH GOODNESS I FEEL FAINT-

\---

The door opened, slower this time, to reveal Homura back in her school uniform. She looked vaguely uncomfortable and muttered something about forgetting the door had a chain lock as she ushered the group in.

“Hello Homura-chan, we missed you in class-”

“I had to leave early. Saotome-sensei should have received my note.”

“O-oh! That’s good. That you had a note I mean. So how is Mami-san?”

“She’s recovering.” Homura eyed Hitomi and then Kyubey for a moment before speaking again. “She was quite… ill. But now she merely is recovering from her fever.”

_“She seems to have subconsciously prioritised her external wounds and so she should be fit to see Shizuki Hitomi... Unless her psyche suffered damage from the impact.”_

_“External? What about internal ones?”_ Sayaka frowned at the back of Homura’s head as they walked.

 _“Ah. Well she still has several of those. But she will deny it.”_ She swapped to speaking out loud. “See if you all can get her to rest up some more. She’s been far too… accompanying for someone in her condition.”

The trio headed down the hall, following along behind Homura in silence. Eventually they reached a simple room, mostly filled with unopened boxes. There was some furniture however; a glass table, a simple yet stiff looking blue couch, a desk with various components balancing a laptop, and finally a bed. The bed was simple with the same dark blue as the rest of the furniture, and had a complete lack of Mami.

“You know, this is a more normal place than I was expecting.” Sayaka spoke up from the back of the group.

Homura pursed her lips. “What was it you expected?”

“Gargoyles mainly. Or like, some steampunk stuff with a giant pendulum and a bunch of gears.”

Maybe Madoka was imagining things but Homura seemed to stiffen at that.

“The room is usually in a more… presentable state. But with my current company _(and, I cannot stress this enough, you brought Shizuki Hitomi)_ I've had to make some adjustments. Speaking of which-” 

Homura hurried through a small door in the corner of the room. Moments later she emerged again, dragging a disgruntled Mami who seemed to be in the midst of making tea. Ignoring her protests, Homura snatched up the teapot and all but forced her back into bed. Madoka let out a sound of pure relief, a mix between a gasp and a sigh. Hitomi slid open the curtains, letting a lot more natural light into the previously dimly lit room.

“Hey hey, take it easy Senpai.” There was a soft tone to Sayaka’s voice that she didn’t often use as she moved some of the boxes over to the bedside. Mami looked like she’d seen much better days, but she was able to smile weakly as her eyes fluttered closed.

“You are very kind Miki-san, but I assure you that I’m already feeling much better.” Mami was clearly fighting sleep even now, sinking into the mattress with a contented sound.

“Hello there Kaname-san. And Shizuki-san too, it’s been quite a while.”

Hitomi smiled warmly. “Too long. It’s nice to see you again Mami-senpai, though I wish you’d take better care of yourself. It’s like my mother said last time you came to visit, balance is a vital part of life!”

Mami started to get out of bed again until Sayaka put a hand on her chest, pushing her back down into the pillows.

“Mami. I mean it, you need to stay in bed. You… You need rest.” Psychically she added. _“You basically had a freaking building dropped on you. Seriously Mami-san, stay in bed.”_

Homura took the opportunity that had presented itself. “Perhaps some soup would help? Shizuki Hitomi you will find a stove in my kitchen. That should suffice.” As she all but shoved the poor girl out of the room, shutting the door in her face.

“Oi, you didn’t have to be so rude to her.” Sayaka was holding one of Mami’s hands as she looked disapprovingly at Homura.

“Why exactly is Shizuki Hitomi in my kitchen?”

Sayaka coughed at that too. “Well. You see. The soup she makes is actually really good and since she offered…” Madoka couldn’t help but nod in agreement. She hadn’t been sick in a while and the soup really was as good as Sayaka promised.

Homura groaned. “Of course. You haven’t even met her yet and her love for food is already rubbing off on you. Typical.”

Homura marched over to sit beside the now thoroughly confused girl (Sayaka mouthed the word “Who?” at Madoka who simply shrugged) and clasped Mami’s other hand, pressing a Grief Seed into it. “Tomoe Mami needs to rest. Until she recovers from the internal damage she will need constant supervision. Not because her condition is in any danger, but because if not kept in check she will run off and get herself hurt even worse. You should not have even been standing, your legs were broken in several places mere hours ago.”

“I-It was that bad?” Madoka asked. In unison both Homura and Mami responded. Homura nodded and Mami shook her head. “Oh Mami-san. I’m so sorry!”

“Eh?!” Mami looked up, startled. “Kaname-san, there is nothing for you to apologise for. If anyone should be, it’s me. I was rather… rash. While it is true that we were not expecting those intruders, it was a reasonable possibility. We are an extraordinarily competitive lot. Much as I strive to do what is best for everyone that unfortunately is what it means to be a Magical Girl for most of us.”

Homura laughed at that, a bitter and sharp exhale. “Rash is an understatement. While you were putting on a show I was keeping them alive. And in an effort to show off you were nearly killed.”

“I keep telling you. I am fine. Akemi-san I have faced much worse in battle, injuries that would turn even the bravest girl’s stomach. And I am still standing.”

Sayaka looked mortified, stuck between the two bickering girls and patting Mami’s hand in what she seemed to think was a comforting manner as she looked at Madoka for help.

“If that were the case you wouldn’t have burned through 5 Grief Seeds in the last 24 hours. If you would just Let. Me. Help. Then you would already be fully healed. I have not seen such waste outside of battle in all my time as a Magical Girl. In fact even within battle this would be ridiculous. This was two incompetent assassins and a single Witch. It’s not as if we were facing Walpurgisnacht!”

“Wall what?” Madoka interrupted, confused.

Mami blinked. “It is the name of an extraordinarily powerful Witch. Magical Girls spread rumors of its existence but I have never encountered someone who has actually seen one, let alone fought one.”

“I have.”

Homura’s words were quiet, barely a whisper, but they caught the attention of everyone in the room. Homura sat on one of the boxes, looking away from the group. There was something in her expression that chilled Madoka to the bone. 

“You- Oh.” Mami seemed to have noticed it too. “If the memory is too painful, I will not pry.”

Homura nodded once and said nothing else.

Madoka however, did. “Would, um. This big Witch, does she have a lot of gears and a kind of spooky laugh?”

There was a shattering sound, and Madoka realised Homura had knocked the teapot over. She’d stood up abruptly and was facing Madoka now.

“How do- Yes. It does. Why do you know that?”

“J-Just a dream! I had a dream like that once…” Madoka considered telling her about the memory, she really did, but she was still really confused about what Haruka had shown them. And she didn’t think telling Homura that she’d seen herself fight the Witch would help. So for now she would just tell them about her dream, and wait until she and Sayaka could ask Haruka some questions. 

So she told them about the dream. About the weird checkerboard rooms, the big creature looming in the city, and Homura. She couldn’t remember exact details about everything but she remembered enough to give a vague description of events. As she went something felt strange though. As if she was remembering more and more things that had happened in the dream, like a familiar voice whispering in her ear.

As she finished her story she looked up to see three very distinct reactions. Sayaka with a smile, clearly ready to talk about her overactive imagination. Mami with curiosity, seeming to match up the various bits of information with what she had been told. And finally, Homura. Homura looked at her with pure… nothingness. It was as if all emotions were gone from her. Homura stood there, blank, staring at her.

Of course, before any of them could say something. Hitomi came bustling in with a few steaming bowls and a big smile.

“Now then! I insist you at least have a few spoonfuls, Mami-senpai.”

\---

“Isshogooood” Sayaka mumbled through a mouthful of soup. Sayaka had devoured her bowl at record speeds and was already onto seconds while Mami and Madoka both ate much slower, yet equally appreciatively.

Homura took a tentative spoonful and nodded. “I agree, this is quite delicious.”

Hitomi smacked her on the shoulder. “Mind your manners Sayaka-san! But thank you anyway. I’m glad you are all enjoying yourselves. How long has it been since I’ve cooked for you instead of the other way around Mami-senpai?”

Mami froze at this, looking away from Hitomi. “I-It was…”

Realising that she’d brought up a bad memory, Hitomi moved to sit on the bed beside Mami. “The night before the crash?”

“Crash?!” Madoka and Sayaka said in unison.

Mami nodded slowly. “Yes, there was. It was a car crash.” She tried to say more but something caught in her throat and she buried her face into Hitomi’s shoulder.

“If the memory is too painful, I will not pry.” Homura repeated the words back at Mami. Her expression was unchanged but there was a bit of softness in her tone as she said it.

Muffled, Mami continued haltingly. “My parents. They…” 

When she couldn’t carry on, Hitomi spoke for her. “Her parents passed away in a car crash a few years ago. Poor Mami-senpai was the only survivor. It was a miracle that she was unharmed.”

 _“A miracle…”_ Sayaka wondered in her head.

 _“Kyubey… Did you?”_ Madoka already dreaded the answer.

_“Mami made a contract with me then, yes. I believe it was a wish to connect to life. I have been by her side ever since.”_

All of the room's occupants (excluding Homura) moved to comfort Mami, who pulled them all into a big hug (including Homura, via Sayaka grabbing her).

For a few moments there was silence apart from the sounds of Mami’s sniffles… Until a spark jolted from one of Madoka’s hands onto the ring on Mami’s finger.

>=()=<

Smoke. Everything was covered in smoke. Mami couldn’t help but cough as it filled her lungs. She didn’t know where she was or what was going on, only that there was smoke. Through it she could make out hazy features. A car door lay discarded on the concrete, it’s glass shattered. But that didn’t make any sense. Why would a car door be here without a…

Car. She was in a car wreck. The glass from the door led in a path right up to her. She could see shards of it buried into her legs. She tried to reach out, but her right arm wasn’t moving. Slowly she uncurled her other hand and tried to touch her arm. She heard a sharp crack as she did so, but she felt no pain. Why didn’t she feel pain? She could see the metal piercing her stomach so why didn’t it hurt? Breathing was getting harder now, coming in raspy wet gasps.

A shadow blocked out the sun. Slowly she turned her head as far as it could go.

And 

there 

was 

Kyu-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! According to her 100 questions Madoka has 1.5 eyesight. Now despite having glasses myself I’m not too sure what effect on sight that is so I’m just going to say Madoka wears contacts and leave it at that. 
> 
> Now it’s time for Mitakihara to roll out a welcome mat, cause the Circus is coming to town.


	10. “We’re having a Magical Girl sleepover, doctor’s orders?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Homura, Madoka, and Sayaka continue to discuss their situation.  
> Meanwhile Haruka sends a message and meets a new... friend?

The first thing that crossed Homura’s mind was, “again?!” She had fainted more times during this timeline than the previous ten combined and it was getting annoying fast. She sat up. Or she tried to at least. Something was wrong. Her eyes still closed, Homura focused on her soul gem instead. The familiar weight settled itself as she let magic flow through her body. She relaxed against the current, running a diagnostic on her unresponsive body. On the whole she seemed to be fine. She forced herself to reduce it down to simple statistics. Thinking about her body in too much detail would often cloud her Soul Gem more than she could spare. Especially so early in the timeline.

In general, everything seemed to be working at an acceptable level. She’d need to step up her witch-hunting over the next few weeks if she wanted to keep going at the pace she was though. Otherwise she’d start showing signs of malnutrition and exhaustion, and she knew how that worried Madoka. 

She pushed deeper, going past the layers of magic to reach those covering her heart and… There! A single spark that felt off amongst the other signals. Each Magical Girl had their own signature attached to their magic, an identifying force behind each individual. It had been surprisingly hard to find in this case, but it was there nonetheless. She reached out, her power surging enough to make her shake... and smothered the spark of Kaname Haruka’s magic. 

Letting out a loud wheezing cough she finally managed to sit up. Her heart slowly but steadily resumed a steady rhythm. She was going to kill Haruka the next time she saw her. Awareness of the world around her sprang back to Homura in a rush of sights and sounds, scents and sensations... pinks and blues?

“Hmm… Homura-chan?” Madoka asked sleepily. Oh. Haruka lives to see another day. Homura took in her surroundings. She’d fallen to the floor alongside Madoka and, unfortunately, Sayaka. She quickly summoned her shield, rummaging around for a few seconds. Gently, pulling her arm out from underneath her, she slid a pillow under Madoka’s head. She tried to sit up but Homura gently pushed her back onto the pillow. 

“Take your time Kaname Madoka, magical feedback can be difficult to process. There is no rush.” With a contented sound she stopped resisting and laid back. Which was more than could be said for a certain nuisance. After a few attempts at removing a grumbling Sayaka from her midsection, Homura caved and kicked out one of her legs. With a start Sayaka jumped back, smacking her head into the couch and collapsing with a groan.

Homura let out a quiet breath. She was glad for the space... even if she kind of missed the contact. Shaking those thoughts away, Homura checked on the room’s other occupants. It appeared that Mami had suffered no side effects from… whatever that had been. She took the time to check her pulse just in case. It beat strong to the rhythm of her Soul Gem as always. However it was ever so slightly… off. She’d tried talking with her about it but as always their conversations were stilted and awkward. And whenever she tried to discuss the previous battle Mami would close herself off. Somewhere deep down a voice chimed in that she was simply worried about her friend, but she ignored it. When Haruka got back _she_ could handle the blonde and her particularities instead.

Next to Mami, in a heap, lay Hitomi. She mumbled gentle nonsense as she slept. Homura once again reached into her shield, placing a spare blanket over her and brushing the hair out of her face.

“Why does she get tucked in and I get kicked?”

“Because, Miki Sayaka, you can handle it.”

Sayaka chucked as she rubbed the back of her head. “I mean fair enough. But it’d still be nice.” 

She sounded almost wistful at the last part.

Homura threw another blanket at her. “Fine, take this.” She didn’t look back but she could hear the smile in her voice as Sayaka thanked her. She hoisted up a sleepy Madoka to place her on the couch. There! She’d be more comfortable.

Smiling up at her, Madoka let out (in Homura’s opinion) a very cute yawn as she spoke. “They’re okay right? Mami-san and Hitomi-chan I mean.”

“Yes, they are both perfectly fine. Though I have no doubt the pair of them could use the extra sleep. I believe that Shizuki Hitomi has been busy lately?”

Sayaka stretched before sitting on the couch as well. She draped the blanket over herself and Madoka, leaning into her. “Busy is an understatement. We only really see her on the way to class these days.”

Homura didn’t often spend time with Hitomi, but it wasn’t out of any contempt. Her company was quite enjoyable actually. The two girls got along really well but she was just so… Human. And Homura didn’t have the time for being human these days. Maybe if this timeline was different. Maybe in some timeline still yet to come. She put a stop to those thoughts, knowing how she’d unravel if she considered failure even for a second.

Sayaka was the first to break the silence with a barely stifled yawn and a question. “Geez, how long were we out?”

“Three hours, five minutes, eleven seconds.” She answered on pure instinct. Maybe it was her magic, maybe it was the time loops. Whatever the reason, she prided herself on her excellent internal clock.

Clearly not expecting that answer the pair blinked up at her.

“Why, um…”

“...did we all pass out?”

Sighing, Homura began to explain. “In a word? Kaname-san. Not you, the other one. It seems her power left a lingering trace that none of us noticed until now. It reacted with her soul gem and the resulting feedback was too much for all of us in such close proximity.” That Connection power of hers had obvious benefits. But if it was going to keep reacting poorly around her then it’d be more of a hindrance than it would help. Being able to communicate without the incubator eavesdropping was- Wait. She quickly looked around the room, stunned that she’d forgotten the biggest threat in the room so easily. She found it underneath the bed. Kyubey hung limply in her hand as she dragged it out by the scruff of his neck.

“Oh no! Kyubey!” Madoka started to move but Sayaka held her back.

“What’s wrong with him?” The look on her face made it clear that she was having second thoughts about the creature after what they’d seen, even if Madoka still held a soft spot for it. The day Madoka actually held a grudge against a small animal was the day hell froze over in Homura’s regrettable estimation.

She didn’t want to risk anything, so she did a quick pulse of her magic against the incubator. No reaction. Huh.

“I believe it was knocked out too. This must be what Haruka meant about her magic… interfering with it.” At Madoka’s worried expression she added, “It-He should be fine.” She despised the incubator but maybe, just maybe, it’s existence was worth something when Madoka gave her a relieved smile. Homura placed the inactive creature next to Mami who unconsciously nuzzled against it in her sleep. Madoka let out a happy squeal at the sight. Well, at least she was happy.

Sayaka cleared her throat. “So uh. You both saw that too right?” Madoka nodded silently, tearing up a bit at the memory. “Was that when she… you know?”

“Made her wish? Yes.”

Sayaka grimaced. “Yikes. That’s had to be tough on her.”

“Unfortunately Tomoe Mami’s case is a common one. We are not given the time and space to think these things through. The Incubator corners girls in their moments of weakness or their greatest despair, and uses it to leverage a contract. It is thanks to him that she is still alive, that is true, but that does not make him worthy of gratitude.”

Madoka clutched the blanket tighter around her, not meeting Homura’s eyes. “But why would Kyubey do that? Witches hurt people and Magical Girls stop them! Why would he trick people?”

She couldn’t tell her. She wanted to, oh she desperately did. But the risk of everything falling apart if Mami overheard... If Sayaka didn’t believe her... If Madoka… She just couldn’t.

“I cannot say.”

“You can’t say? Or you won’t say?” There was a touch of venom in Sayaka’s voice at that. Homura wished she could be more surprised at that. ~~It still hurt nevertheless.~~

“Is there really any difference?”

“You aren’t giving us a lot to trust you on here.”

“I know.”

Just like that, Sayaka seemed to deflate. Letting out a deep breath she looked her in the eyes. “Fine.”

“W-What?”

“I said, fine. You saved Mami, so the least I can do is thinking about this stuff before we do anything. I can’t promise I’ll always do a good job at it, but I’ll try. Madoka?”

The girl in question started nodding rapidly, a spark of confidence in her eye. “Yes! Me too. But um, could you be a bit nicer to Kyubey?”

“If the two of you will try then I suppose I must in turn.”

“So what did you wish for Homura-chan?”

The question stopped her cold. Rain, pain, Madoka laying on the ground. She’s not moving whyisn’tshemov-

“It is a personal matter.” She spat the words out, aware of how cold her voice was, unable to stop herself.

Madoka flinched sharply. “S-Sorry. I should have known.”

Sayaka patted her head comfortingly. “It’s okay ‘Doka, we just aren’t used to all this magic stuff yet.”

Used to all this… Something felt out of place. She’d known about the circumstances surrounding Mami’s wish for a long time, but actually seeing it felt different. And yet... “You weren’t surprised by the vision. Explain. Now.”

Sayaka winced. So she’d guessed right. “When the two of you went to get Kyubey. Haruka showed us her psychic power thingy. Told us she could do more than just send messages. Stuff like memories work too. I think she could explain it better”

So that explained the flashes of… something that had given her headaches that day. The girl and her powers remained an enigma so even this small bit of info helped. Even if it did come from Miki Sayaka’s famously ‘reliable’ memory.

“It seems there is a _lot_ that Kaname-san has to explain when she returns from her... trip.”

As if on cue, Mami’s phone started to ring. The ringtone was a happy melody, blaring tinnily through the speakers. 

♫ Like a disjointed story

We had aimed at different futures ♫

♫ Peace and thought are important

They spin out from those days ♫

Two voices rang out, accompanying the tune of an acoustic guitar. The first was clearly Mami herself, and the second… Homura snatched up the phone, flipping it open and holding it to her ear in one smooth movement. “I’m afraid that Tomoe Mami is unavailable at the moment, Sakura- Ah.”

Madoka and Sayaka echoed her. “Ah?”

“It’s Kaname-san.” Homura pulled the receiver away from her mouth for a second to respond before she continued her phone call. “So, why exactly do you have her phone?”

Later on Sayaka would describe the expressions Homura made as, “a sight to behold! A journey across all human emotion on the least emotive face!” But to Homura herself only one thing stood out.

“Oh, Kyoko is going to kill you.”

\---

“Well you don’t know that for sure-”

“There is absolutely no chance she is not going to hunt you across the country.”

“Precisely!” Haruka leaned back in her seat as the train rushed through the evening air. She had expected Mami, but Akemi would do. “No way she’ll stay in Kazamino now! Problem solved. You’re welcome.”

Even through the phone she could hear the exasperated sigh she knew so well. “I suppose that is one way to handle the situation. Could you not have done so in a different manner?”

“Welllll, there were a few uh. Complications.”

Homura’s “I do not like the sound of that. Why do I not like the sound of that?” Wasn’t explicitly said, but Haruka could infer it from the loaded silence that sentence caused.

“Okay so good news, my info was right… That’s also the bad news though. Kure is definitely active-”

“I am aware.”

“What do you mean?”

“She almost killed Tomoe Mami.”

Haruka blanched at that. “Oh god is she okay? Please tell me she’s okay.”

“She is okay.” Homura deadpanned.

“That wasn’t very reassuring.” She took a deep breath. “What happened?”

“She made an appearance in the midst of our encounter with ‘Gertrud” alongside your… friend.”

God damn it Kiori, you just couldn’t stay out of this mess could you. “What did she do? Are the others okay?”

“Kaname Madoka and Miki Sayaka are fine. They are currently with me, as is Tomoe Mami. However her condition is at the very least stable, but she is not accepting my help.”

Haruka ran a hand through her hair as she thought. “But you _have_ been offering it? Well that’s unfortunately the best you can do for her. Just… Keep an eye on her for me. Please”

There was a pause before her response. “Understood. As long as you continue to bring in the necessary information and assistance to handle the mission then I shall do what is needed.” Homura didn’t seem at all happy with that, but she was agreeing at least. So that was a plus.

“Fine, I don’t know if it is safe to split the girls up right now. Can they stay with you tonight?”

An even longer pause this time, before Homura finally said, “I suppose they can. I have enough space, should they agree.”

Letting out a breath of relief, Haruka slumped in her seat. “Good. Good. I’ve got another job to handle when I arrive but we can meet up after. If Mami-senpai is feeling better I’ve got a favor to ask her, but I can text it later. In the meantime I’ll send someone to help with what you… missed.”

“I can handle a single Witch myself. I have done so before and I shall do so again.” The icy response was not good. She couldn’t let her leave yet.

“But you can’t do that and look after everyone at the same time. Look, if it makes you feel any better you can go check in the morning. If I’m wrong then there is no harm done. Anything else you need from me while I’m on the line?”

“Quite a lot actually. Now tell me, what exactly happened when the three of you were alone on the roof that day. There’s been some recent actions you have to answer for.”

Ah. Damn. “I’m on the train right now, there's a tunnel coming up! Gonna have to make it quick, tell you more later.”

As she frantically tried to cut off the call Homura’s voice rang out sharp and clear. “What did you show them?”

Haruka froze. Slowly she let out what was intended to be a laugh, but sounded more like a sob. “I showed them something they’d never forget. After all, you haven’t.” And slid the phone closed with a snap.

\---

Damn that infuriating girl, evasive as always. Homura tossed the phone down on the bed and let out a long muffled groan between clenched teeth.

“It appears that Kaname-san is on the way back to Mitakihara.”

Madoka perked up at that. “Oh? Yay! It’ll be nice to see her again. I need to bring her to see Mama and Papa.”

“Good idea, get your parents used to you bringing girls home, eh Madoka?”

Madoka whacked Sayaka with her pillow. Though considering it was Madoka it was less being hit and more like being attacked with a feather.

“Speaking of home, Kaname-san has asked the two of you to stay here for the night. Is that acceptable?”

Sayaka cocked her head. “We’re having a Magical Girl sleepover, doctor’s orders?”

Madoka’s eyes widened at that. “Ooo! That sounds like fun!”

Homura wanted to interject, to explain that it was for her safety. But she couldn’t take that smile away from Madoka. Not tonight at least. Considering the other two still passed out on her bed, Sayaka called up Hitomi’s parents first.

“She’s a real heavy sleeper. The only problem is actually getting her to go to sleep, that girl overthinks and over prepares for hours.” Sayaka explained as she dialed the number. After getting confirmation from all three girls' parents, and a short interrogation from Junko, the matter was settled. Homura switched the sofa into its bed form, something she’d decided on after passing out on it far too many times in the past timelines, and started spreading out the blankets.

After handing the pile to Sayaka she and Madoka had gone off to the kitchen. The room was small and cramped, but it had the essentials. Usually Homura made it much more dramatic looking but, again, Shizuki Hitomi was still in the building. While she didn’t have much in terms of food or general cooking supplies, Homura did keep some specific things in every loop out of habit. And it seems that once again habit served her well when Madoka’s face lit up and she’d immediately started making hot cocoa for the group. She’d also given her a hug when she’d discovered that Homura happened to have a bag of her favourite marshmallows. (Homura fondly remembered the time Madoka had wistfully told her about a family trip she’d had as a child and had committed the details to memory, down to the “Cute little pink bunnycat marshmallows!”)

The dopey expression on Homura’s face dropped quickly however as the girls re-emerged. Hitomi was awake. She sat talking to Sayaka as she stroked Mami’s hair, who was luckily still asleep.

“Hitomi-chan! You’re awake!” Madoka exclaimed happily, walking over to offer a mug and a hug.

She gracefully accepted both and returned Madoka’s smile. “Indeed I am, Sayaka told me that I fell asleep unintentionally earlier. I planned on caring for Mami-senpai but you all had to care for me instead. You have my apologies.”

Madoka, it seems, was not content ending her hug just yet and continued to cling comfortingly to her friend. “You don’t need to apologise Hitomi-chan! We were happy to help.”

As if sensing the growing blush on her, Sayaka stepped in and picked up Madoka. This caused her to accidentally drop her mug in panic. Spinning her shield into existence, Homura moved to pluck the drink out of the air before the chocolate could spill and placed it safely onto one of the boxes. She took a moment to admire the scene in front of her. Madoka was happy, surrounded by friends. Mami was alive and peaceful. Sayaka was actually listening to her. A deeper part of her thought that more importantly Sayaka was happy and safe, but she ignored the voice yet again and unfroze time.

\---

It was one of the best nights of Homura’s life. Madoka, Hitomi, and Sayaka all cuddled up together on the couch while she sat nearby. They’d tried to get her to join them but Homura had insisted, it wouldn’t be right for her to intrude. The group had put on some cheesy action anime, Sayaka’s decision, but it had been a genuinely good time. Madoka had cooed over the animal sidekick and Hitomi had gotten… surprisingly invested in the main girls relationships. Even Homura had felt a hint of a smile a few times. All good things must come to an end however. As the opening to a new episode started, Madoka tried again.

“Um, Homura-chan? Are you sure you don’t want to join us?”

The question was simple. Even so Homura stood there, frozen in place. She did. She really really did. But she also didn’t want to ruin their night. Slowly she nodded, not trusting her voice. Surprisingly though, Hitomi spoke up.

“Nonsense. It is much more comfortable over here and you are our host. Since we can all fit it would only make sense for you to sit with us.”

She… she couldn’t deny that. She didn’t want to deny that. She wasn’t going to deny that. And so she made her way over to the girls with shaky steps. The blanket was really warm and she felt even warmer when Madoka slowly slid her hand into hers and Sayaka laid her head against Homura’s shoulder. Slowly the sounds and flashy lights of the anime started to fade. And for once, Akemi Homura fell into a peaceful sleep.

\---

Haruka stood up for a few moments as the train reached a stop, stretching. Usually the train system would be a terrible option for a magical girl in a hurry. But she was exhausted and the train car had been almost empty. Not at first, at first there were a few people. But as the trip went more and more of them moved to the surrounding cars, leaving just Haruka and the other girl. She moved over to her part of the train, throwing herself down next to her and offering out a hand as the train began to move again.

“Hey there! I just want to say thanks for earlier.”

The girl had sandy-brown hair in a similar bob to Haruka herself. Though it was clear that the girl hadn’t cut her own hair, so it wasn't quite the same. She wore a casual dress that only stood out with the multitude of ruffles on it. It almost looked like a Magical Girl outfit actually, but it wasn’t quite dramatic enough. She looked at her as if surprised that Haruka was actually talking to her. After a moment however, she smiled and shook her hand.

“Oh that? No problem. Did you really not know how to use a phone though?”

Haruka grimaced, rubbing the back of her head. She could feel a sudden headache building up, probably just because she’d been overexerting herself lately. “I’m kinda a klutz when it comes to tech, always more fun to tinker than actually using it you know. I know how flip-phones work in theory but… Anyway, thanks again.”

“If you don’t mind, what was the call about? It sounded sorta serious?”

“Oh that? Yeah a friend of mine got into a fight. I had to make sure everyone was okay, but it should get sorted out pretty quick.”

“Gosh! Well I really hope they’re all okay. I don’t want to overstep, but did you say Mami? As in Tomoe Mami?”

Oh! “Yeah I did actually, do you know her?”

“Yep!” The girl bounced a bit in her seat as she said it. “I met her once, she left quite the impression.”

Haruka chuckled. “Yeah, Mami-senpai does that. Are you going to see her?”

The girl nodded. “Bingo! I was planning on visiting a few weeks ago but I got caught up in Kazamino for a while. Please don’t tell her about me, I need time to prepare a… gift.”

“On one condition. I wont tell her if you give me your name. I’m Kaname Haruka, what about you?” 

The girl smiled, and for a second in the flickering neon lights of the train, it almost seemed ominous.

“My name is Yuuki. Yuuki Sasa. Pleased to meet you friend.” Sasa pulled her into a quick hug before leaning back to look at her. She seemed confused about something, but before Haruka could ask what the headache had returned again. By the time she looked back up again Sasa was waving at her from the platform and shouting to, “see you soon!” Well, at least she’d made a new friend. She’d ask Mami about her later… First she had one more call to make.

_“Kiori… We need to talk.”_

\---

The birds were singing and the sun was shining when Mami woke up. She couldn’t quite remember falling asleep, but that wasn’t important right now. What _was_ important was the sight in front of her. Sprawled on the couch were three girls; her kouhai and hopefully soon-to-be-friends, all cuddling a very comfortable looking Homura.

_“Good morning Mami, you seem happy. Did you sleep well?”_

With a chuckle, she helped free Kyubey from the blankets near her, the creature blinking up at her sleepily. “Thank you Kyubey. It began with a nightmare unfortunately, but I did have a rather nice dream afterwards.”

_“Oh? What kind of dream?”_

“It was rather odd, Madoka and myself were talking about Magical Girls. I believe Homura may have been there too but I’m not sure…” Mami trailed off, eyes glazing over.

_“Mami? Something wrong?”_

“Ah!” She patted her friend on the head, rubbing along his ears. “Sorry Kyubey, I didn’t mean to ignore you. I was just thinking… I’d like to braid Akemi-san’s hair. Come now, let's make breakfast.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter went through a surprising amount of variations, even for me. But Homura deserved some hugs. Next time, let's learn what Kirika and Kiori have been up to.
> 
> (Also, yes I had to slip in a reference to Kyoko and Mami’s character song. I feel she’s absolutely the sentimental type to have a recording of singing with her old friend as her ringtone. As to why Kyoko owns a phone? That rather mundane mystery will be solved in time.)


	11. "That’s how I believe, how I hold to my truth.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiori and Kirika have a long talk and save someone in need. And perhaps, learn more about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings:  
> -Suicide Attempt (canon): Skip to the first linebreak (---)  
> \- (Implied) Internalised Transphobia, misgendering, and general self hatred: no specific moments just proceed with caution.

_“Kiori… We need to talk.”_

Tap. Tap. Tap.

_“I have nothing to say to you.”_

Step. Step. Step.

_“An innocent woman is going to die!”_

It was almost over. She was so close now.

_“Innocent? You?! Will your lies never cease to flow?”_

Up and up and up she goes. Where this will end, nobody knows.

_“Not me, dumbass!”_

There’s no place for home. The ruby slippers slide from her feet forever more.

_“...Then who? You know where my loyalties lie.”_

Somewhere deep inside she notices the sun. The warm pinkish glow of the horizon as it slowly began to dip below the horizon. Her hair tossing back and forth in the gentle evening breeze.

_“There’s a Witch in the industrial district. By the time the sun rises she’ll have killed several office workers. Mami-senpai was supposed to stop her before then… But now she can’t. You owe me. You owe HER. Fix this.”_

She’ll finally be free. No more snide comments from her boss, no more disappointed looks from her mother, no more arguments with her son. The rush intensifies as she steps forward-

_“Very well.”_

“Hello fair maiden, ‘tis quite the long drop ahead of you.”

There’s a hand holding her own. She dangles from the building's edge in a haze of anger and confusion. She was going to be free. She PROMISED. She digs her nails into the hand, forcing it to let go. And now she’s finally falling, finally escaping, the ground rushes towards her and she’s finally-

Arms wrap around her. The world goes blank.

\---

Kiori falls. She hadn’t thought it through, she’d simply reacted. Cradling the stranger in her arms she plummeted towards the ground. With frantic speed she summoned her shield, materialising along her back as she entered free-fall. Closing her eyes, Kiori concentrated on her past battles. The blue haired swordswoman, she showed exceptional potential if she could only learn to trust herself. Her abilities remained sealed. Akemi Homura, the woman who tore away her hopes and dreams yet again. Hers would be too draining, she couldn’t afford to lose consciousness here. A multitude of magical girls whose faces she couldn’t remember but would remain a part of her forever more, none of them what she needed… There! She focused on a specific memory.

_A monstrous centipede rearing up at her, striking a scythe across her stomach. She parries the second scythe and pushes in, forcing the pain to the back of her mind. She thrusts her sword forward and in and UP._

Her power comes to life in a sudden rush as the world around her begins to slow. Though it was only her perception, it gave her the time she needed to think. She scanned the area, looking for a way to break their fall. Up, shield, wall, car. That would do. She released the borrowed ability and moved.

Kiori launched the stranger into the air. That was the easiest part, Magical Girl strength helping immensely. Then she slid the shield from her back to her hand and finally to her feet. Using the magical artefact as a sort of surfboard she slammed into a jutting section of the buildings wall, slowing her momentum considerably. The woman almost passed her as she launched back off and caught her at the last possible second. Finally, she let out a desperate prayer to anyone listening and slammed the shield down into the wreck of a van below.

For a few moments blackness threatened to overtake her vision, and then it cleared completely. Panting, Kiori lay on the now borderline flattened vehicle.

“So this is why you came out here then? Playin’ the hero?”

Kiori groaned upon hearing the voice. Of course she’d been followed. Slowly she ground out among pants for air, “S-Something to that effect.”

Kirika lifted the woman off of her and laid her down gently onto the ground before holding a hand to her neck. “Welp. Not a scratch on her. She’s fine apart from the Kiss.”

Huh? She couldn’t have heard that right. “Um. Kirika-sensei, dost mine ears deceive me or did you say she’d been _afflicted_ with a kiss?”

Kirika nodded, tilting her head. “Uh, yeah. You still feelin’ out of it?”

“I am the very model of a healthy Mahou Shoujo.” Kiori shook her head (and ugh she regretted it, everything was swimming) sliding off of the ruined van and making her way over to the woman she’d saved. She knelt down beside her and looked at her neck where Kirika had gestured. There was a mixture of a butterfly and a crown imprinted in an ugly red across her throat. “What manner of sorcery is this?”

“That’s a Witch’s Kiss, it basically means a Witch has control over someone, gives them lots of nasty thoughts and stuff like that. Drives a lot of folks off the edge. You didn’t know?”

“Where I came from… I didn’t really fight a lot of Witches.” Kiori murmured as stretched out one hand and lightly traced along the shape, feeling for something she could feel just out of reach. There!

Kirika moved to sit beside her, leaning against her side as she watched what Kiori was doing. And then she gasped. The symbol faded in a flash of white light, leaving her neck free of marks.

“The hell’d you do?” Kirika looked between the woman and Kiori in surprise. Ah, she must have used the unique abilities mo- Oriko had told her she possessed. 

“My wish has blessed me with the power to direct and separate. To forcefully grasp the power I need with my own strength to accomplish Oriko-sama’s every task.”

“You can disconnect someone from a Witch’s control? Damn. That’ll come in handy… You were just winging it weren’t you?”

Kiori pointedly refused to meet Kirika’s gaze at that. “P-perhaps?” 

The woman let out a groan as she started to sit up, clutching her head in both her hands. With a pointed look up at the rooftop the pair left the office worker to wake up and make her way home. They’d done all they could here. But they kept an eye on her until she’d pulled out a phone and started speaking into it.

“Think that van is hers?”

“If ‘tis the case I shall of course give her my most gratuitous apologies and compensate her for the… damages.”

“And what excuse are you gonna give for crushing it?”

“...Point taken.”

Kirika let out a sharp laugh at that. But the mirth was short lived.

“You say that you’ll dedicate your life to Oriko. That you’ll do anything for her. Why?”

“...I could ask the same of you, Kirika-sensei.”

“Just call me Kirika. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you forgetting the honorific in battle. And you know why I do. She’s the most important person in this whole damn world and she’s gonna save everyone. Why wouldn’t I look up to someone like that?”

Kiori sighed, she wasn’t going to get out of this one. “Very well. Kirika, the reason I swore my service to Oriko-sama is because she saved me. She found and raised me from the perdition I was cursed to for no other reason beyond merely being born.”

Kirika’s eyes widened at that. “That.. makes two of us then. Oriko’s great at helping people be who they want to be, even if she doesn’t always know it… That was my wish. Being with Oriko helps, I don’t need to think about the way things used to be. I feel happy. I feel safe.”

Slowly, Kiori spoke. “Kirika… Have you told her this?”

“....No.”

“Why n-”

“Because I don’t want to remember! If I tell her the truth… You don’t know what it’s like!”

“You’re wrong!” Kiori couldn’t help it. The words tearing out of her before she could stop herself. “I know what it’s like to be alone. I know what it’s like when the world hates you. I… I know what it’s like to hate yourself.”

The laugh that came from Kirika at that was bitter and dull. “Oriko really does attract people like us. But I can’t tell her. If I said what I really was… Who I really was. She’d hate me. I LIED to her. Everything we have is built on lies! What am I supposed to do?!”

“Start with me.”

“...What?”

“My arcana gifts me insight into the blessings of the mind.”

“...What?”

“I could look through your memories. Then you wouldn’t have to feel so guilty holding them alone. And then we can tell Oriko-sama together about whatever it is that has you so upset when you are ready.”

Slowly, Kirika nodded. “Please?”

Kiori took both of her hands in her own, touching their foreheads together, and breathed in. Then, she breathed out. She felt the barriers between them, splayed her hands onto their weak points, and finally. She shoved.

\---

_We had been together since we were little. Our names were like how you’d name twins. I knew that we’d be friends even as grown- ups._

“Erika? You’re going to a different school?!”

“I don’t know for sure yet, but… My mommy and daddy aren’t going to stay together. And I have to go with my mother.

_She just left without a word… left me holding the bag for her crime… After that, I kept my distance from everybody and they kept their distance from me._

“She’s talking to herself out loud. Scary!”

“I know ‘her’. He’s always alone, mumbling to himself quietly!”

“Ugh! Creepy!”

_I hated everything about the world. Or, rather, I just wasn’t interested. Playing the ‘Friends’ game and the ‘Love’ game like a bunch of idiots. The vapid conversations where the only reply is always “Oh, is that right?” Yeah. It’s all pathetic… But then I met Her._

“Tch! You’re in the way. Hurry and pick those up!”

“Just hurry up and do it! People are waiting so hurry it up!”

Words she’d heard so many times before. Everyone is angry, everyone is upset, everyone judges her-

A girl kneels across from her, helping to scoop up the coins she’d dropped. A girl with a wonderful smile and beautiful eyes. A girl who helps her to her feet and looks down at her not with disdain but with care. With… kindness?

_I’d hardly ever been treated with kindness by somebody else. But that wasn’t all. There was something about her that drew me in. Ever since that day, I searched the town for Oriko. I never went to school much anyway, and from then on I hardly ever showed my face there again. I never even thought much about it._

“The train is entering the station. Please keep behind the…”

I can just call out to her and pretend it’s a coincidence. We’ve met once, so I’ll ask if… she remembers me… 

_I mean who would ever remember me? It was a lie when I said that I wasn’t interested in anything. I was just pretending to be disinterested. Pretending to look down on everybody. But I was jealous. There was nobody who would give me a second thought._

_I wanted to change… I wanted to change into a different me._

“Mikuni! You shouldn’t hang out with students from other schools. People are gonna start weird rumors around you again! Not that I really care either way. Let’s get going, okay?”

_I hesitate. I lose her. That girl drags Oriko away from me forever, the train door closing in my face. I guess I’m not a suitable friend. I’m not deserving of love. I’m horrible. I’m useless.  
I ’ m p a t h e t i c. _

“Witches aint that scary. All of them are dumb as rocks! So you aint got nothing to worry about White-Ring.”

“...My name is Kyubey.”

“White-Ring’s easier to remember. You’re white, with a ring on your back.”

_Who am I?_

“You’re all white an’ frilly, ain’t ya? Like some kinda butterfly! Heh heh heh… Ya know, huntin’ butterflies in the moonlight sounds like fun! It’ll be a great time! WANNA PLAY?”

_What was this all for?_

“What are you even talking about? What are you anyway?!”

“I am Mikuni Oriko. I will tell you the secrets of Magical Girls… and I want you to become a piece in my game.”

_What was my wish?_

“What I want… **I WANNA KEEP CHANGING UNTIL I’M SUITABLE FOR HER**.”

\---

With a scream she tore herself from the torrent of memories. Gasping for air as if it had been a rampaging flood, buffeting her to and fro. Dragging her further and further down. Frantically she scrambled back from the other girl. Her hand hit something sharp, she felt it cut into her palm, and she slammed against the floor. Everything was too much and Kirika-

And Kirika-

Kirika.

Kirika?

Ki...?

Ki-what?

Oh!

Kiori put a hand to her chest and started taking deeper, more deliberate breaths. Her name wasn’t Kure Kirika, it was Kure Kiori. She had a scar across one eye, and gold across her chest. She loved reading, an absolute Shakespeare fanatic. She’d always dreamed of castles and knighthood and protecting her princess and her name. Was. Kure. Kiori.

“S-Sorry about that.” She moved over to Kirika on shaky legs, offering a hand out to her. “I’ve uh, I’ve only done this with one person and she wouldn’t exactly let me in. I expected more resistance and I pushed too far.”

Kirika wiped her eyes with her sleeves as an uncertain grin spread across her face. “And you weren’t gonna tell me that before you went rooting around in my head? She must have done a bad job if you freaked like that.” She reached out and held onto Kiori like she was her only lifeline.

“Hey! She was a great teacher…” Kiori started off indignant before she remembered exactly who she was talking about and what she’d just seen.

“It was me. Wasn’t it?”

“From a certain point of view...Yes.” Kiori seated herself beside Kirika once more, still holding her hand but more loosely now.

“You don’t make any sense! What do you mean ‘a certain point of view’… What happened? You say Oriko saved you and that she raised you, but she doesn’t remember anything like that. And now you say that I was the one who taught you with all that mind stuff. Urgh!” She collapsed onto Kiori with a thump, throwing her arm across her face dramatically.

“This is supposed to be a talk about Your memories, not mine. How about a deal, if we talk about you now and then we talk about me another time?”

“Fine. But I get to ask the questions.”

Kiori nodded, that was the least she could do.

“When you looked into my memories. did you...?”

It would be better to be direct here, yet even so Kiori felt herself slipping into her knightly persona. “I am aware that you are transgender and I think no differently of you because of it! Kirika, might I ask for your pronouns?”

She sagged with relief. “Uh, She/Her. Thanks… What you said earlier about us being so similar, are you-”

Kiori’s eyes shot wide open and her voice jumped several octaves. “M-Me? Ha.. Nope! I’m, just. But really I support you Kirika, I’m not though. Really. Just a lot of respect for the community, that’s all.”

She didn’t know why she felt so defensive about it. It wasn’t as if she was upset at Kirika’s assumption. It was actually pretty flattering as becoming one’s true self was a highly knightly task. But she just wasn’t. Regular old princely Kiori, same as always. That was… her.

Kirika was the first to break the awkward silence. “Alright then. So, how much did you see?”

“An argument with a friend. Bullying. Hatred. Bigotry. Your first meeting with Oriko… Your first fight with her. And your wish. To keep changing-”

“-Until I’m suitable for her.” Kirika finished the sentence in a hushed whisper.

Kiori smiled, wrapping her arms around Kirika. “Don’t you see what that means? By the very wording of your wish you have proof that Oriko-sama could never hate you. Even now you deal with the struggles of your past, true. But if she wouldn’t accept you for this then you wouldn’t be worrying about this.”

Kirika remained silent for a long while before finally responding. “I… I don’t think I’m ready to speak to her about all of this just yet.”

“That’s okay. A lot of this is deeply personal, so if you feel ready to share I’ll be there with you.”

“And what if I never feel ready?” Kirika said it as if it was something shameful, as if being scared to tell her insecurities and struggles to the person she loves was wrong. Kiori knew the two of them were in love, deeply and completely. She had seen it in Kirika’s heart and in the way Oriko had talked about Kirika after… Well, if she was going to dwell on sad memories, she’d rather it be Kirika’s.

“Then she’ll still love you. And I will be here for you too, my friend.”

“How do you know all of this? How do you believe that everything will be okay.”

“...My. My parents weren’t. They aren’t really. Uh. I got dumped on my dad and…” She couldn’t get the words out. She could never get the words out. So she changed tact. “Twas my first meeting with Oriko-sama that inspired my soul. And now I stand proudly beside you. We are making this world a place of joy and hope, together. That’s how I can believe, how I hold to my truth. No matter what happens.

The pair sat in silence as the sun finally sunk below the horizon, the final tints of pink and blue fading for now. But they would be back soon enough. Every sunset was always followed by a brand new sunrise. And Kiori would fight for that every day of her life.

“You got rid of the Kiss, but what about the Witch?”

“Ah, I almost forgot. Want to take her down together... Kirikaasan?”

They readied their weapons, and charged into the barrier. Gertrud wouldn’t know what hit her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kirika’s backstory from the chapter is a mix of the original Oriko Magica and Sadness Prayer with some of Noisy Citrine thrown in. There’s a lot of variety to who Kirika is in canon material, so I tried to weave a lot of it together into a jumble of reasons as to why she is as she is. Various bits of dialogue from all three have been thrown around in the flashback so credits to Magica Quartet.
> 
> Initially this was gonna be a small section of the next chapter, but the more Kirika stuff the wrote the more I knew I had to keep writing it. And thus, this stands on its own. We’ll get more insight into Oriko from a few different perspectives too, just gotta wait for the story to progress some more! 
> 
> And yes, Kirika is trans. As you can see from the tags, so is Homura. There are a few other headcanons when it comes to sexualities and gender that will be explored as part of the fic but I hadn’t actually planned to have Kirika come out to anyone so soon even inadvertently.
> 
> Next time, we return to Homura and her gaggle of civilians.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first Madoka long-fic, A Single Moment. I’ve had the ideas for this bouncing around for a while and I decided to finally write it out. I’ll update the tags as I go in order to keep a few reveals hidden, but for now the plan is a spin on the Oriko Magica timeline with some wide reaching consequences. The structure may be a bit weird in order to explain both the old and new timelines, but I hope you all enjoy!


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